Around Town

OP-ED: Keep Health Care Workers in Mind, System Strained by More Than COVID

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State Sen. Will Brownsberger

The following piece was provided by State Sen. Will Brownsberger, who represents Watertown, Belmont and parts of Boston:

Please keep our health care workers in mind as you make decisions about what COVID risks to take over the coming weeks. As of Tuesday, December 14, there were 1411 people hospitalized with COVID in Massachusetts, of which 326 were in the ICU and 176 were intubated. That is well below the level in the first April 2020 surge when hospitalizations peaked at almost 4,000, yet for a combination of reasons, the hospital system is feeling a lot of strain. Steve Walsh, President of the Massachusetts Hospital Association testified at a hearing on December 16 about the state of the hospital system. He made the following points in his testimony:

Like many employers across the country, hospitals are having difficulty recruiting staff — nurses and behavioral health specialists are most in demand, but all hospital jobs are hard to fill.Caregivers are exhausted and burnt out — many are leaving for other fields or retiring.In the early days of COVID, it was possible to recruit travel nurses — acute surges were happening in only a few states.

Community Transmission

First COVID-19 Outbreak in Watertown Schools, One Class Being Quarantined

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Several students tested positive for COVID-19 at a Watertown elementary school, in an incident that is the first confirmed in-school spread within the Watertown Public Schools. The nine confirmed cases were in one class, and the entire class is now under quarantine, Superintendent Dede Galdston said during Monday’s School Committee meeting. “We are definitely in a situation right now where we have in-school transmission at Cunniff Elementary School,” Galdston said. “We were able to really get through pretty much a full year in person without having a verified in-school transmission, but it did happen. It is very unfortunate and we are very concerned about the families that are impacted.” Most of the students who tested positive are asymptomatic, Galdton said.

COVID-19

LETTER: Call for Requirement for Watertown Teachers to be Vaccinated

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Editor,

As teachers return to school this week, and students joining them next week, we still do not know whether vaccines will be mandated for teachers and staff in Watertown Public Schools. We do know that the CDC, state government, and the largest teachers union in Massachusetts are all recommending school staff be vaccinated.  Medical professionals, including Dr. Fauci, are saying that the best way to protect children under 12 who are not yet vaccinated is to surround them with vaccinated people. Many school districts have already put this common sense requirement in place. We are fortunate to be in a community where the majority of adults are vaccinated, including the majority of teachers. But, the data from the last 18 months show that when there was Covid-19 transmission in schools, it was usually driven by unvaccinated school staff.

Letters

LETTER: Parent Urges School Committee to Mandate COVID Vaccinations

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Dear School Committee,

As far as I’m aware, Watertown has not yet announced a policy for COVID vaccination in schools. I’m writing today to urge you to adopt a mandate as many other jurisdictions are now doing. COVID vaccines are safe and effective, and are by far the most effective way to prevent COVID outbreaks in our schools and keep our teachers and students safe. I got vaccinated at the first opportunity and will get my children vaccinated as soon as they are eligible. 

Masks, ventilation, social distancing, and testing can help, but there is a limit to what ventilation can do, and in many ways masks, social distancing, and testing are far more burdensome than getting a vaccine because the vaccine is two doses at single points in time, whereas masks and social distancing restrict what people can do every single day. It seems incongruous to mandate the less effective, more burdensome intervention, while leaving the more effective, less burdensome intervention up to the individual.

Around Town

Watertown Library Will Start Requiring Masks for In-Person Visits

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Watertown LibraryThe Watertown Free Public Library. The Watertown Library sent out the following information:

Beginning Monday, August 9, face masks will be required for all people ages two and older inside the Library. Current Library Hours:

Monday – Thursday: 9 AM – 9 PMFriday: 9 AM – 7 PMSaturday: 9 AM – 5 PMSunday: 1 PM – 5 PM

You are required to:

Wear a mask while using the children’s room, regardless of vaccination status. Follow CDC and Massachusetts mask and social distancing guidance for unvaccinated people.Beginning Monday, 8/9/21, masks will be required for all people ages two and older in the Library. 

Available Services

Library services have resumed. Library programming will be offered via Zoom and in-person outdoors through the summer. Meeting and study rooms are available for public use.

Schools

Watertown Planning for Opening of School; Looking at Masks, Testing & In-Person Classes

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The beginning of the 2021-22 school year is just over a month away in Watertown, but some significant details remains uncertain due to the increased number of cases of COVID-19 in Massachusetts, particularly the Delta Variant. Superintendent Dede Galdston told the School Committee Monday night that she plans for in-person learning for all students, but there could be some virus-related requirements such as regular testing and wearing of masks. The final decision will come later this month. “I think it is too fluid, with what’s going on with the virus,” Galdston said. “As we get to mid- to later in August I will make a recommendation based on feedback — from the Health Department, from our teachers, from our families — to determine what is going to be the safest options for our students as we return to school on Sept.