MATTAPOISETT — Public Health Nurses Emily Field and Amanda Stone said the town will likely remain designated as a “red” community for another week at an Oct. 28 Board of Health meeting, “with the hope that next week there are no new cases and we can go back to the yellow zone,” Field said. 

Field said that if the town remains red for three weeks, Mattapoisett will have to revert to step one of phase three of the state’s covid reopening plan. 

In phase three step one, outdoor gatherings at event venues and in public settings are limited to 50 people.

Driving schools, libraries, museums, and other lower-contact indoor and outdoor recreation businesses must also reduce to 40% capacity. 

Field and Stone took the opportunity to explain how contact tracing works, and what residents can do to help prevent the spread of covid. 

“The real concern,” Field said, is that Mattapoisett residents need to observe best practices like wearing a mask and social distancing. 

Field said “we can study the cases and look at the numbers,” but the most important aspect is to pay attention to safety guidelines and prevent the spread, especially because some who contract covid are asymptomatic. 

Field said that when a case is discovered, anyone who has recently been within six feet of the positive case for a total of 15 minutes over a 24-hour period without a mask is considered a close contact. 

She said that those who observe best practices are “less likely to become that close contact.”

“It’s a mushroom,” Stone said of the virus’ high spreadability. 

The Board of Health commended the pair on their work and help to Mattapoisett.