AUBURN, Mass. - Students in Auburn stayed home from school Tuesday.

Superintendent Casey Handfield closed all school buildings for the day, citing a number of positive COVID-19 cases in school nurses. 

In an e-mail to parents Handfield said, "We do not have adequate nursing coverage to open school buildings." 

What You Need To Know

  • The town of Auburn reports an uptick in COVID-19 cases following the holidays
  • Starting January 5, the town hall, senior center and library will be closed to the public
  • Town manager, Julie Jacobson, said the precautionary measures are to protect employees and visitors
  • The school district also closed all buildings on Tuesday because of a shortage of school nurses 

COVID-19 sick calls are something town manager Julie Jacobson is trying to limit after a rise in cases following the holidays.

"We had 199 (cases) between Christmas and New Year's alone," Jacobson said. "As of (Monday) afternoon, we were reporting 113 new cases in only a four day period."

Jacobson said she only expects the number to continue to rise. Starting January 5, the library, senior center and town hall will be temporarily closed to the public.​

"If someone comes into the office and within an hour, they don't feel good. Then, that entire division has to take measures because of that." Jacobson said. 

Jacobson said the precautionary measures are to protect employees and visitors. She mentioned how the town faces an additional hurdle because the closest state testing site for many residents is in Worcester.

"We have to keep up with our mandated services we have to provide," Jacobson said. "If we have one employee in an office get COVID, that technically could shut down that entire office."

Town offices will stay open and operating, but Jacobson encourages residents to go online, give them a call or visit their kiosk at town hall. 

Similar to the school system, Jacobson said the town is taking everything on a day-by-day basis. The temporary closures run through January 29.