I’d like to publicly commend the good folks in Guilford who worked together on short notice to distribute two SARS-CoV-2 rapid test kits and N95 masks to our household: my wife (a senior), myself (immunocompromised), and our son, who had to fly out of La Guardia to LAX last Friday.

While initial acquisition was delayed and interest briefly overwhelmed the town server, First Selectman Matt Hoey and his Emergency Management Team was immediately on it, and while we were not able to receive materials in the first round last Monday due to the huge number of residents who applied, two days later we were notified that we had qualified for kits the following day.

And so it was that GPD Officer Matt Potter met my vehicle at the Fairgrounds entrance along with another of Guilford’s finest to clear us for entry; that Guilford Fire Department Assistant Chief Michael Shove and a half dozen of Guilford’s bravest waved us in to the Health Department folks awaiting us, and Board of Finance member Veronica Wallace and their crew sent me home with the requisite supplies.

I would be remiss not to mention Deputy Fire Marshal Jim Considine and the Health Department’s Nancy Matyasovsky, who coordinated the team’s efforts under Police Chief Butch Hyatt and Fire Chief Charles Herrschaft; thanks go to all of them and others whose names I’ll never know I’m currently safe at work wearing my N95 particulate respirator keeping me and our community healthy.

Christopher Tracy

Guilford