The City will hold a public online town hall about COVID-19 in the community on November 12th at 6:00 p.m. Panelists will include Mayor Kim Driscoll, North Shore Medical Center President and CEO Dr. David Roberts, Health Agent David Greenbaum, and Director of Planning and Community Development Tom Daniel.

The town hall can be watched live at salem.com/COVIDtownhall or on the City’s Facebook page. During the event questions can be submitted in the Q&A space at salem.com/COVIDtownhall or send them in advance to mayor@salem.com with “COVID Town Hall” in the subject line. The town hall recording will be available on the City’s Facebook after the event, as well.

On November 2, Governor Baker and Lt. Governor Polito announced a series of new orders and advisories in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. The effective date of all orders and advisories is 12:01am on Friday, 11/6. 

These orders and advisories are summarized in Monday's press release. These interventions will disrupt the increased trend of positive COVID-19 cases, allow the Commonwealth to keep the economy and schools open, and prevent a need to roll back to Phase I or Phase II of the reopening plan.

Stay at Home DPH Advisory: The advisory instructs residents to stay home between 10pm at 5am. This would still allow activities such as going to work, running essential errands, and taking a walk. 

Early Closure of Businesses Executive Order: The following establishments are required to close to the public (not to staff) by 9:30pm:

Gatherings Executive Order: All gatherings, in public and private spaces, must end and disperse by 9:30pm, except for religious and political gatherings. The gathering size for indoor gatherings at private residences is reduced to 10 (from 25) and the gathering size for outdoor gatherings at private residences reduced to 25 (from 50). Indoor gatherings at public spaces and venues (e.g. wedding venues) remains at 25 and outdoor gatherings at public spaces and venues (e.g. wedding venues) remains at 50 in Phase III, Step 1 communities, and 100 in Phase III, Step 2 communities. Fines for violating the order will be $500 for every person over the limit.

Face Coverings Executive Order: This order was updated such that a face covering would be required in any public space, regardless of distancing. Additionally, allows employers and schools to require employees and students who claim to be unable to wear a face covering because of a medical or disabling condition to provide proof. Also, requires face coverings in cars if carpooling with anyone outside of your household.

Mayor Kim Driscoll has announced the launch of salemforbusiness.com, a new website that celebrates why Salem is great place to do business and connects prospective business owners with a variety of resources to help them get started and grow locally.

The website describes all that Salem has to offer, including information on its bustling downtown, its vibrant waterfront, and its local community that supports businesses throughout the City. It also offers a direct connection to the City’s economic development and business support team and additional technical resources and guidelines for starting a small business in Salem.

The website will continue to grow, with plans to add links to more resources for prospective and existing businesses, information regarding city regulations and zoning, and a comprehensive permitting guide to help business owners navigate local permitting processes. Business owners and those considering starting a business in Salem are encouraged to bookmark the page and check back often.

The Salem Chamber of Commerce annually celebrates the strength of the Salem business community in the form of the Celebrate Salem Awards. Normally the awards are handed out in April, but this year, due to COVID, the celebration has to be postponed. The first round of voting took place in March and the Chamber is resuming voting to decide this year's winners.

Nominations were submitted by the members of the Salem Chamber of Commerce. Winners per category are decided by general vote by the Salem Chamber membership and the community at large. People who voted during the first round are allowed to vote a second time. Both rounds of voting will be counted to decide which nominees will receive the honor of being a 2019 award winner.

Voting will take place now through November 16. A virtual award ceremony will be scheduled in early December.

Click here to see the full list of nominees and descriptions, and click here to vote.

As COVID-19 restrictions and public safety concerns limit indoor activities for restaurants, entertainment, public events and social gatherings, communities have adapted by expanding into the outdoors. This lifeline, perfect during the warmer months, becomes more challenging during the impending colder, darker winter months.

Winter Places, a design challenge for winter placemaking, sought ideas and designs for innovative, quickly implementable, low cost interventions to drive visitors back to Main Streets to support area restaurants and small businesses.

To learn more about Patronicity, visit their website at patronicity.com