Meetings Ahead
All meetings are held remotely. To watch a meeting, go to provincetown-ma.gov and click on the meeting you want to watch. Follow the link to the agenda for instructions on how to watch and participate.
Thursday, May 21
- Zoning Board of Appeals, 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, May 26
- Select Board and Board of Health, 6 p.m.
Conversation Starters
Covid-19 Update
As of May 18, Provincetown had no confirmed active cases of coronavirus, one death, and 27 additional cases considered recovered.
Advice: No Cruise Ships, Indoor Shows
The recovery coalition’s public health working group released recommendations Monday based on research about the safest way to proceed this summer. The group advised that cruise ships and bus tours should detour away from Provincetown.
The group also advised that indoor entertainment should bow out for the summer, as well as large outdoor attractions; buskers; shared bathrooms in accommodations, such as rooming houses; saunas and steam rooms, except those in private homes; and food and coffee bars.
“These aren’t banned, this is just information for the public to signal where the public health working group is heading,” said Health Director Morgan Clark on Monday.
The coalition will present a full list of recommendations at a May 26 joint meeting of the select board and the board of health, where policies can begin to be set.
The coalition working group will spend the summer monitoring new coronavirus cases, as well as testing capacity, the number of available ambulances, and the percentage of essential workers (such as doctors and nurses) who may become sick with the virus.
Outer Cape Health Services officials told the working group that the Provincetown clinic would stay open longer than their other two clinics should there be a staffing shortage, Clark said.
Survey Says…
Results of a community survey about the reopening of Provincetown were still not completely tabulated by deadline, but the preliminary report found that 2,500 people took the survey, according to Town Manager Robin Craver.
A full 77 percent of respondents prioritized “doing everything possible to prevent the spread of Covid-19” over the economy, she said.
The majority favored welcoming back day-trippers, weekend visitors, week-long visitors, summer visitors, and domestic workers. But most respondents did not want to see cruise ships or international workers in 2020. —K.C. Myers