Alderson City Hall is now closed to the public due to the Delta variant of COVID-19.
Mayor Travis Copenhaver posted to the town’s Facebook page, announcing the closure.
“Due to the rise of COVID-19 positive cases in our direct area and counties, effective 8/31/21 mask use is required to enter city hall,” wrote Copenhaver. “There will be no visitors, sales representatives, or unnecessary persons at any of our plants or facilities. We will continue to serve customers at city hall. Please respect our staff by wearing your mask as they respect you by wearing their’s. This is our best effort to not resort back to closing to the public as was done previously.”
Shortly before this on August 24, Copenhaver took to Facebook Live to address the situation in the three counties Alderson emergency responders service.
“I want to take an opportunity this evening to address you as not only your Mayor but your friend, your neighbor, and discuss where we are right now with our rise in numbers with COVID. Recently, because of various outings and the uptick, we’re seeing a rise in our numbers in Greenbrier, Monroe, and Summers counties, and across the state.
“One of the things that you can do to be a good neighbor is wear your mask. I am not just a politician, but I try to bring factual science when I give an address over COVID and all the stuff that’s relevant to COVID.
“I would ask you, if you’ve not considered getting vaccinated, consider your family and friends that are immunocompromised and do your level best to pray about it. Think about the decisions that affect other people and join me and others in receiving the vaccine.
“If you can’t come to trust the vaccine, at least think about wearing a mask. The last year, we’ve altered how we do business. We’re going quickly back to the probably of regulating, like we were last year. There are businesses that sustained last year, barely sustained, and there are businesses that will fail if we have to go back to the absolute shutdown again, limiting the way that we were.
“Good bad or indifferent, you know there are ramifications to the shut down. The way to avoid that, quite honestly, is wear your mask. Indoors, outdoors. If you’re inside, please be cautious and considerate. Put your mask on when you go inside. The facts, the science, tells you that the masks reduce transmission.
“COVID is worse than when we deal with chicken pox. Whenever we think about chicken pox virus, it is spread predominantly [through the air]. This strand of COVID is as easily spread, or more easily spread, than chicken pox.
“I’m asking you, as we think about the future, please do everything we can to protect you and your family. Businesses can’t afford another shut down. The municipality of Alderson has been adversely affected due to COVID. To be quite honest, we have to look at what we can do to sustain ourselves.
“Wearing a mask is not an infringement on your rights, it’s not taking away civil liberties, it’s asking you to be courteous. Courteous for your neighbor, courteous for your family, courteous for those that are serving in the public. If you work in a public environment and you’re indoors taking care of people, please think about wearing your mask. Use the hand sanitizer. Do everything you can to protect yourself because right now our healthcare facilities are reaching their peak.
“Even if you can’t fathom having COVID, it affects you if you have a heart attack, broken bone, or any reason you need to go to the hospital, because healthcare is being used for COVID patients and taking away the ability to get quality care close to home.
“If you think an ambulance ride three hours away is comfortable, I can tell you now, it’s not. It’s not comfortable for the provider or for the patient.
“I’m asking that you take the time to have consideration for your friends, family, and neighbors. This is not a topic that’s easy. When people start to discuss it, you can go down one path or the other path, but we’ve trusted the CDC for years. We’ve trusted those that have been making decisions for years.
“The reason that a lot of us are alive is because our parents and grandparents took vaccines that were new to them. [These vaccines] eradicated polio and other diseases that were new at the time. Please give consideration, give consideration for your neighbors. We need to pull together, put a lot of negativity aside, and think about what we’re doing for other people.
“I’m asking, humbly as your mayor, and I hope that you understand that if just one or two people decide that maybe it’s a good idea to go get vaccinated, or maybe it’s a good idea [to wear a mask], the science is there, then I’ve done my job this evening. I’m asking you to please wear your mask when you’re indoors and please consider getting vaccinated.”
Alderson Mayor Travis Copenhaver |
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