Harvard entered its fourth week in a state of emergency under sunny skies on Tuesday, sending cooped-up gardeners and walkers outside, grateful to have been spared a loss of power or damage from the wind and rain of the previous day. But a stay-at-home advisory remained in place, and the efforts to control the spread of COVID-19 continued to unsettle the normal rhythms of town life.
On Thursday, April 9, the state Department of Public Health finally joined the CDC and several Massachusetts towns, including Harvard, in urging residents to wear a face covering in public places. “People who show no symptoms of illness may still be able to spread COVID-19,” MDPH explained in an April 10 advisory. “A face covering may help prevent you from spreading COVID-19 to other people.”
According to MDPH guidelines, a face covering can include anything that covers your nose and mouth, including dust masks, scarves, and bandanas. “Do not use healthcare worker masks, such as the N95 masks—those should be preserved for healthcare workers,” says the advisory. “It is important that you wear these face coverings or masks in situations where it is difficult to maintain a social distance of six feet from others. For example, in a pharmacy or grocery store,” MDPH advised. Guidance on how to make and use a mask can be found at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website (https://bit.ly/3enZyXJ).
The other big Friday news was the decision of state education officials to cancel the spring MCAS exams, the standardized assessment testing given to students in grades 3 through 10 in Massachusetts public and charter schools. The cancellation came soon after the state Legislature passed and Gov. Charlie Baker signed into law a bill authorizing Education Commissioner Jeff Riley to cancel the tests. State education officials must also waive or modify the MCAS-measured competency requirements for this year’s graduating high school seniors.
Rising toll
Meanwhile, Massachusetts is already experiencing a surge in COVID-19. On April 14, MDPH reported that the number of confirmed cases in the state was 28,163, nearly double the number reported on April 7. Over that same time period, the number of confirmed cases in Worcester County rose from 1,172 to 2,246. The number of deaths in the state jumped from 356 on April 7 to 957 on April 14.
The rate of increase in hospitalizations reflects the increased case rate. The April 14 report of Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association showed that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases at Emerson Hospital was 36, up from 19 a week before, and the highest number yet at Emerson. Four of those patients were being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU). Massachusetts General Hospital’s numbers increased from 219 to 411 over that same period, and Lowell General Hospital jumped from 43 to 86. Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer reports zero cases of admissions for COVID-19. Its six-bed ICU is closed, though it says ICU nurses are available to stabilize critically ill patients before transferring them to other hospitals. The Harvard Ambulance Service is aware of the hospital’s ICU status and has told the Press it will act accordingly.
Also as of April 13, the number of deaths from COVID-19 among residents at Littleton’s Life Care Center of Nashoba Valley had risen to 14. Nine residents were hospitalized, and 43 who tested positive remained at the facility. Life Care reported 70 employees were out sick, of whom 31 either tested positive or had symptoms of COVID-19. One nurse who worked at the facility had died.
Late Wednesday afternoon, April 15, as this edition of the paper was headed to the printer, the DPH released the total number of cases confirmed in every municipality in the state. Between Jan. 1 and April 14, Harvard had 11, a rate of 158 per 100,000. We will update this story in the next release of our weekday State of the Town bulletin.
