City Manager Jon Jennings at press conference at city hall this afternoon.  To the right is Mayor Kate Snyder.

The Meat Counter was Likewise Bare  Due to Hoarding as Customers at Hannaford Brothers Hoarded Meat Today.  The Fish Supply Remains Strong, However.

The Paper Products Shelves at Hannaford Brothers, Forest Avenue, was Bare  Due to Hoarding This Afternoon.  Such Products are Being Rationed to Customers; Two to a Customer.

Portland’s city hall closed at 3:00 pm this afternoon and it is not known when it will reopen again according to city manager Jon Jennings at a hastily called press conference this morning.  The purpose of the 2:00 pm press conference was to announce that the India Street Clinics will be closed for the next fourteen (14) days.  At the same time, it was inadvertently disclosed that city hall was closing down as well.

Jennings announced the closure because a staff member at the India Street Clinic tested presumptive positive to the COVID-19 after exposure to a client.  Twenty-three others are quarantined who had contact with this individual.  It is not known how this infected individual is being treated – whether as an isolated patient at Maine Medical Center or quarantined at home.  Jennings said he does not know how many patients at India Street Clinic may have been exposed to COVID-19 as a result.

Cruise ship season is approaching and two of them had been scheduled to arrive in Portland in late April.  However, they’ve been discouraged from coming to Portland at that time.  Future cruise ships may be discouraged from docking in Portland as well.

Jennings reported that there has been a slow down at the International Jetport but that is a national trend as well.  He is unaware of any slowdown in ridership at Metro.

“Everything is on the table,” said Jennings at the end of the brief press conference this afternoon.