SANDPOINT — First, the county’s school districts announced they would be closing in the interest of public safety. Then the Sandpoint Area Senior Center announced it also would be closing for a period of time. And soon, word came the East Bonner County Library District would be suspending some programs.

In addition, Bonner General Health implemented high-alert procedures Monday in its Emergency Department, Erin Binnall, community development manager for Bonner General Health and Foundation said. All patients will be triaged before entering, to protect staff, patients, and visitors.

“Bonner General Health is following the CDC criteria guidelines for lab testing for COVID-19,” she said. “If you do not meet the criteria from the CDC, please stay at home and self-monitor your symptoms.”

Coronavirus symptoms can include a fever (higher than 100.4 degrees), lower respiratory illness (a new cough, new shortness of breath and difficulty breathing), travel to affected countries (China, South Korea, Japan, Iran and Italy) or affected U.S. cities (Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles and New York City), and contact with a person who has COVID-19.

Binnall said as the hospital continues to provide care to all other emergency patients, BGH needs those coming to the Emergency Department with COVID-19 symptoms to follow the below guidelines.

• Call ahead of time to the Emergency Department at 208-265-1020.

• Upon arrival at the hospital, stay in your car, and call 208-265-1020, a staff member will come to the patient.

“Bonner General Health is working diligently with our local agencies and regional partners to prepare for coronavirus and screen for any potential cases,” Binnall said. “While there are still no confirmed cases in our county, we all must do our part to keep ourselves, family, and community members safe.

Those with questions should call the Panhandle Health District hotline at 1-877-415-5225.

Among those following the latest CDC health announcement is the Sandpoint Area Senior Center, which announced it would be closed to all activities as of Wednesday, March 18. In addition, its DayBreak Center will be closed as of today, March 17, for about 30 days.

Meals will continue to be delivered to area homebound seniors, but the center will be making “grab and go” hot lunches for seniors to pick up instead of welcoming them inside to eat, said the center’s Alice Wallace. Friday’s breakfasts will not be served until the center can return to its regular schedule.

Those interested can sign up for their hot meal the day before — as in the past — then just drive to the back entrance of the building (on Alder Street, near the corner of Forest). Center staff will be running meals to vehicles from 12-12:30 pm.

As always, your donations to support the meal expenses will be very gratefully received!

“We hope our seniors will make use of our ‘grab and go’ meal service, and we look forward to seeing you all from Wednesday onwards — until the situation improves,” Wallace said.

If any seniors have an emergency please call 208-265-8127 or 971-718-1606 and please leave a message, Wallace said staff will return those calls.

While the Sandpoint and Clark Fork libraries remain open with normal hours, and the Bookmobile remains in operation, some library programs are being suspended for a short period, library officials said.

Programs suspended include Teen Lounge hours, storytimes and virtual reality programs. In addition, tutoring services, meeting room use, interlibrary loans, acceptance of material donations and homebound services have been suspended, effective immediately, officials said.

“The East Bonner County Library District is in a unique position as a community anchor and trusted center for public information,” said Marcy Timblin, library district public relations officer. “Library administration is staying up-to-date on developments concerning the spread of COVID-19, and are taking steps to ensure the safety of patrons and staff.”

On average, close to a thousand people visit the East Bonner County Library District’s branch locations and Bookmobile every day. The library employs 40 staff and numerous volunteers. Hundreds of items are circulated each day. This raises concerns about limiting exposure while continuing to provide services critical to our community.

“At this time, there are no reported cases of COVID-19 in our local area,” Timblin said. “However, we want to assure the public that library officials are observing safety measures recommended by the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In response to those recommendations, disinfectant wipes are available for public use at the Information Desks at the Sandpoint and Clark Fork libraries. Patrons are encouraged to wipe down computer keyboards and other surfaces prior to use and hand sanitizer is available at all service desks.

Timblin said many physical library materials are available in electronic format through the Digital Library at ebonnerlibrary.org. EBooks, e-audiobooks, eMagazines, digital newspapers, as well as movies, television show series, and music streaming are accessible with a local library card numbers. Tutorials for first-time users are posted in the Digital Library.

“We are committed to providing trustworthy information and updates regarding the disease’s local impacts with the public,” Timblin said. “News changes quickly. The information contained here may have changed. Updates regarding service limitations and potential changes to our regular schedule of operations are posted on our website at www.ebonnerlibrary.org. We will use all of our available communications channels to keep patrons informed.”

Caroline Lobsinger can be reached by email at [email protected] and follow her on Twitter @CarolDailyBee.