COVID closes Building Department: Could reopen by mid-week

With three of five Building Department staff members testing positive for COVID-19 variants, the office was closed on Friday and Senior Building Inspector Reed Karen said Monday morning evaluation is underway to determine when it will reopen.

He hopes to be back in the office by mid-week. Mr. Karen said his symptoms have been mild, but he was recovering from a bad cold when pollen counts rose, complicating the process of determining whether he was positive for COVID, until other staff members reported their positive status.

Whether the two staffers who have been negative so far can reopen sooner was being evaluated.

Suffolk County statistics show a 1% increase in cases in the past week; one more case of a student testing positive was reported by Shelter Island School.

Police Chief Jim Read said he doesn’t have renewed statistics.

Efforts at getting specific Shelter Island statistics are underway and will be posted as soon as available, but anecdotally, several Islanders, including other Town officials, have tested positive.