Monday, the Becker School Board held an emergency meeting to communicate with the public their initiatives for working around a shutdown.

Schools

“What we have with the coronavirus is a very unfortunate event,” said Becker Supt. Jeremy Schmidt.

The Becker School Board held an emergency meeting Monday afternoon to get word out on what the schools plan to do after they issued a statement to close the schools starting Monday.

“I think it’s important to communicate and ask questions of our staff who has been diligently working so hard,” said Chairman Mark Swanson. “At this time, we need to focus on putting care in place.”

Schmidt asked several staffers to step forward and discuss their plans to get meals to students who need them, getting equipment and learning tools to students and parents, decide when and where to let people in the buildings and advise families on what things they can access from the buildings and at what times.

Michelle Peacock spoke on childcare for emergency workers and said email blasts were sent out via email, Twitter and Facebook for parents of 4-12 year olds.

Principal David Kreft spoke on the picking up of instructional materials. Tuesday, they planned to have certain doors open for students, parents and family members to access materials and personal belongings. He said K-3 students will be provided with an iPad when they come in to retrieve their personal belongings and 4-12 students were expected to bring their iPads home with them.

Felicia Kittok spoke on food service and explained any student is eligible and meals will be served out the doors at the schools from Wednesday moving forward. Lunches will be handed out as well as breakfasts for the next day.

Tom Risley spoke on transportation and said the school will be offering meal delivery service for K-12 students in need on days that school is closed or distance learning is being completed. Meals will be dropped off at the family’s doorstep and would include lunch for that day and breakfast for the following morning. Risley said for those who would like to participate, to go to the school’s website to complete a survey for each student in the household. The survey must be submitted by Mon., March 23 at 5 a.m. if one would like meals started on Tues., March 24.

Minda Anderson said staff will be working over the next two weeks to be better prepared for meeting the demands for special needs. Asst. Principal Brian Baloun said no changes or dates have changed (as of right now) for assessments and testing.

Sue Hiltner spoke on early childhood development and said they are working on distance learning and working with families, parents, grandparents and guardians on fees and resources. She mentioned information will be sent to families soon.

“We will run into some roadblocks and barriers and hope to overcome them and meet the needs of every student,” said Schmidt.

Swanson asked Schmidt if parents and students need to worry about making their time up from being away from school?

“No, not right now,” said Schmidt. “Although we don’t know the full answer to that right now, ideally we’ll be back in school by March 30. It’ll actually come down to what the governor directs.”

What other entities are affected by the shutdown? Read on:

Restaurants

Gov. Walz made the decision Monday to force all Minnesota restaurants and bars to close in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. The option for takeaway or delivery with limited person-to-person contact was left open.

Locally, some restaurants have closed their doors indefinitely while others are pushing through with the curbside pickups.

Pebble Creek Bar & Grill ended their dine-in service Tuesday and now offer curbside service for meals from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for lunch and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. for dinner.

Café Pawz will be closed until further notice and will update people on their Facebook page as information becomes available.

Los Ortiz’s Mexican Restaurant will be open from noon until 8 p.m. for take-out only. They ask people to call 763-275-0270 to place an order or go to their Facebook page.

Charlie’s Sports Bar & Grill will be open for “to-go” meals from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. until further notice. They will also provide limited delivery options and have a full menu online.

Rebecca’s Cafe is closed for all business this week and plan to try some limited takeout menu and hours during the remainder of the mandatory shutdown. They are hoping to use the downtime to deep clean their restaurant and do some long-awaited extra projects for the time being.

Godfathers is taking all carryout orders at this time and due to the space of their establishment, only two customers will be allowed in the store at a time for everyone’s safety and to keep each individual at the six-foot safety distance.

Pizza Depot has closed their doors to dining-in and have limited-to-no contact at the doors for deliveries (order online for delivery and have your own pen in hand when signing the receipt. Take-outs will be conducted as usual (online ordering is best and credit card is preferred payment).

No information was made available for Great Wall Chinese Restaurant, McDonald’s, Subway or Beck’s Pub.

For those suddenly left without work, Minnesota is waiving the usual waiting time to apply for unemployment benefits. The system was immediately overwhelmed with requests, but appears to be functioning again.

Walz finished his announcement by saying that we would need political collaboration to save the industry, and urged people again to stay home and bend the curve so that hospitals are not overwhelmed by sick people.

Hospitals and Clinics

The Minnesota Dept. of Health is limiting the groups of people who are eligible to be tested for coronavirus due to a supply shortage, as the state confirms its first cases among health care workers.

The MDH sent out a letter to health care providers across the state Tuesday, saying it has changed the testing criteria to focus on the “highest priority” specimens, including hospitalized patients. Health care workers and people living in congregate settings like nursing homes will also be given high priority.

MDH confirmed that several healthcare workers are among those who have tested positive. That includes 13 people who work various jobs in healthcare settings.

“All have been exposed through travel or other exposures, not as part of their work or patient contact,” according to an MDH spokesperson. “Workplace exposures were very limited as healthcare workers knew to isolate themselves when ill.”

Hospitals and doctors are being asked to tell people who have a fever and/or respiratory symptoms (cough, shortness of breath) to self-quarantine for seven days, or three days after the fever resolves. This is the guidance even if those people do not meet the standard for testing.

People who have coronavirus or suspect they have it, but are not severely ill, are being asked to stay home while they recover. If they have underlying conditions or are older adults, MDH asks that they contact their health care provider.

Patients are being told to seek care if their symptoms become severe, and to call ahead to the hospital or clinic whenever possible.

The MDH says COVID-19, or coronavirus, is spread primarily by respiratory droplets from a cough or a sneeze, but it can also spread when people touch contaminated surfaces and then touch their eyes, nose or mouth.

Libraries

Great River Regional Library has made the decision to close all libraries baed on social distancing guidance from the CDC and MDH. All libraries closed Monday and will remained closed (at least) through the month of March.

History Center

Executive Director Mike Brubaker said, “In keeping with the suggestions of the governor, the Sherburne History Center is closed to the public for the next two weeks. We will re-visit the question of re-opening at the end of this quarantine period.”

Over the next two weeks, someone will be in the museum building from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.. Tuesday through Friday to answer calls, emails and check the website, Facebook, blogs, Pinterest and other social media outlets.

Clear Lake

Clear Lake City Hall is closed to the public and won’t reopen until further notice, although employees are remaining at work. Residents needing immediate attention are asked to call 320-743-3111or email the city clerk at cityofclearlake@frontiernet.net.

Residents are asked to use the payment drop box for water/sewer payments. More information can be found at clearlakemn.govoffice2.com.