Mayor Kate Snyder at Todays Press Conference at City Hall.

Early this evening the city of Portland announced that city hall and all city buildings will be closed to all “external” visitors for the next two weeks.  During the first week of closure, a “deep” cleaning will take place.  The deep cleaning will take place a both city hall and the India Street Clinic and will be done by city staff already in place.

Some public health department employees at city hall are frequent visitors to the India Street Clinic – thus the concern for the possible infection of the virus at city hall.

This additional information follows a press conference held this afternoon at city hall on the closure of the India Street Clinic for the next several weeks. A staff member at the Clinic has been presumptively tested positive for COVID-19.  The India Street Clinic is closed not by order of CDC, but because there is no staff to replace the staff there who has been forced to quarantine themselves because of exposure to the individual who has tested presumptively positive to the virus.

The Portland Public Library will be closed for two weeks as well; until Monday, March 30th it was announced this evening.

Please see previous post  herein for more information on the closing of the India Street Clinic due to the exposure of a staff member to COVID-19.