Wednesday News Podcast: Local Hospitals Ready for COVID-19; MA RMV Re-opening 7 Locations Today

News Podcast – Weather – News from Salem – Video of the Day

Local hospitals ready for COVID-19; MA RMV re-opening 7 locations; Area dentists are not seeing patients; Local lobster industry takes hard hit; Serious one-car accident in Hamilton; 7th annual Step Up for Colleen event postponed

North Shore Today newscast with Bill Newell and Rick Moore

Weather – Yellow means sunshine!

City of Salem COVID-19 Response Update

SALEM – The City of Salem continues to advance measures to help slow the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and lessen impacts on healthcare providers responding to this evolving situation.

City buildings – including City Hall, City Hall Annex, the Mayor Jean Levesque Community Life Center, and the Salem Public Library – continue to be closed to the public. Departments can be reached by phone or email. Public works and public safety departments continue to function. There is currently no delay or cancellation of curbside trash/recycling collection.

The City of Salem is waiving the late fees on any unpaid automobile excise bills that were due March 9^th. This waiver will be in place until April 17^th, unless otherwise announced. The waiver only applies to late fees and not to the regular bill amount. You can pay your automobile excise bill online at salem.com/paybills.

Salem Public Schools will be closed through April 6th. For updates regarding the status of Salem Public Schools, please visit www.salemk12.org.

Members of the public should ensure they are subscribed to Salem’s three primary communication platforms, all available at www.salem.com/subscribe: (1) CodeRED, the emergency notification system, (2) City Alerts, found under the “Urgent Alert” menu, and (3) City News & Announcement, found under the “News or Announcement” category.

Members of the public with cold-like symptoms, fever, cough, or other illness should contact their healthcare provider. To ensure the effectiveness of efforts to slow the spread of the virus, members of the public should avoid congregating in groups of more than 10 people.

Status of Cases

As of 5:00 p.m. on March 17, 2020, there are 0 positive novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the City of Salem.

For more information about COVID-19, please visit www.coronavirus.gov and www.mass.gov/coronavirus. Mass DPH has posted an FAQ at https://www.mass.gov/info-details/frequently-asked-questions-about-covid-19 and has activated an information line that can be reached by dialing 2-1-1.