Published in the April 28, 2020 edition.
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD – There have been 209 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Wakefield as of yesterday, and a large proportion of those have been in congregate living settings like nursing homes, Health Director Ruth Clay told the Town Council last night.
Clay was one of several local officials who provided updates to the Town Council during last night’s meeting that was held via Zoom teleconference and streamed live on WCAT’s Facebook page.
Clay said that the Health Department has “a fantastic system in place for case management and contact tracing.” Public Health Nurse Karen Cronin has headed up the effort with 22 school nurses in Wakefield and Melrose handling the cases, assisted by the members of the Board of Health, all three of whom are nurses.
Clay noted that the district (which includes Wakefield and Melrose) received $100,000 from the state last month which is being used to pay the nurses, purchase supplies like masks and hold a number of rooms at a local hotel for those who need to quarantine and cannot do so at home.
She said that there will be another large mask distribution soon and details will be forthcoming.
Clay stressed that the major goal of measures to “flatten the curve” was to ensure that the health care system would not be overwhelmed. She said that in the end it would not change the total number of people who get sick or succumb to the virus. She said that those efforts have been successful and hospitals in Massachusetts are in good shape.
Asked when we might begin to ease up on restrictions, Clay said that the town cannot be less strict than the governor’s order.
“We can’t open anything until the governor’s order is lifted,” she said. She added that there was no specific formula to guide the re-opening process because this is something that has never been done before.
Emergency Management Director Tom Walsh said that the town is in good shape in terms of protecting people and rolling out supplies to those who need them. He noted that the state had freed up a lot of supplies to the town. He added that he and other town officials have already set up accounts with FEMA and other federal and state agencies for when assistance or reimbursement funds become available.
Walsh speculated that it would be another four to six weeks before the governor does anything to relax restrictions, and even then it would be a very gradual re-opening process. He estimated that we are at least a year away from anything close to normal.
Police Chief Steven Skory reported that all of his officers are healthy and all have been provided with personal protective equipment. Six officers who came in contact with infected people have been tested, he said, and all tests came back negative.
He said that policies were in place to protect officers and the public and he described some of the measures being taken such as frequent cleaning of cruisers, limiting the number of officers in the police station at one time and doing as much communication as possible electronically.
On a lighter note, Skory talked about some of the ways that officers are trying to create fun activities for kids, including a coloring contest (winners will get a police drive-by), video recording bedtime stories and doing small parades for kids’ birthdays when they can.
Fire Chief Michael Sullivan said that the Fire Department EMTs have responded to 87 incidents involving present or suspected COVID-19. He said that six firefighters have been tested after contact and all were negative.
Sullivan said that the Fire Department works closely with Cataldo Ambulance on medical aid incidents. He said that first responders may look different with all of the personal protective equipment, “but the mission to provide emergency medical care remains the same.”
Town Administrator Stephen P. Maio said that he was in constant contact with town departments and holds weekly Zoom meetings with all department heads.