Borough facilities will reopen Tuesday, Shehady said. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

By JOHN T. WARD

Red Bank’s borough hall was closed Monday without public notice.

In response to redbankgreen inquiry Monday afternoon, Business Administrator Ziad Shehady said the shutdown was effective “just today” and imposed “as an added safety precaution after the holidays.”

The public library was closed to the public, but remained open for curbside pickup of previously reserved materials. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge.)

Shehady said the closure was not prompted by any known cases of COVID-19 among borough employees. “It was purely preventative and an extra precaution,” he said via email.

Borough facilities were closed Thursday and Friday for normal holiday observance, and had been scheduled to reopen Monday. A COVID-19 update posted on the borough website on Wednesday made no mention of an extra day’s closure.

If employees were exposed on Thanksgiving and contracted the virus, “having them at home today can mitigate the impact of workplace exposure if they were not yet symptomatic,” Shehady said via email.

The borough public library on West Front Street was also closed to the public Monday, though it remained in operation for curbside pickup of materials reserved online and via telephone.

Shehady said the library is autonomous, with its own director and board. Director Eleni Glykis did not immediately respond to a request for information.

As of Sunday, Red Bank has had 673 cases since the start of the pandemic in March, according to Monmouth County officials. The number stood at 407 on November 1.

Shehady tested positive in March and quickly recovered.

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