As you are probably aware there is another surge in COVID cases in our region. We’ve been here before and, while it’s still of great concern, it’s not a surprise nor as frightening as in the past.
We have an additional tool available to us now: we are now receiving regular reports from Biobot Analytics which monitors our public wastewater for COVID viral particles. Typically the wastewater levels rise before the clinical cases and as such give us an “early warning” of a surge. This enables the health department and local officials to better plan a response The first few analyses indicate high viral levels as expected. We await upcoming reports to better understand the current trend.
Because of our collective experience with this virus and because we have a better handle on how it spreads and how to treat the resulting illness, we can approach this with greater calm and take measures to mitigate the impact on ourselves and our community.
Those of you who are vaccinated — great! You have a good measure of protection. But you can still catch the virus, most likely less severe, and be a carrier of the disease to others.
Those of you who are not vaccinated or if vaccinated but in need of a booster — please make arrangements to do so. Meanwhile you should be especially vigilant with the guidelines below.
As members of the board of health it is our responsibility to report the board’s recommendations to keep our city’s inhabitants safe and well.
Here are our suggested guidelines for all unvaccinated as well as vaccinated residents:
■ Wear a mask in all indoor buildings or businesses, gyms and restaurants. The most protective masks are the N95 or KN95 variety which are now more easily available. But any cloth mask with at least two layers of material is effective.
■ Continue to be vigilant about hand washing/hand sanitizing and social distancing as much as possible.
■These measures are especially important for those who are elderly, have chronic health conditions, have someone at home who is immunocompromised or have young children.
■ If you haven’t been vaccinated or need a booster, please call your health provider or visit a local pharmacy to receive a free vaccination.
We need to come together in a collective determination to fight this latest COVID surge. We must work together to keep the numbers of affected people in Greenfield as low as possible and manageable. And help to keep our businesses and restaurants open and safe.
Please join us in doing all you can on a personal level to keep COVID at bay.
The Greenfield Board of Health, Nancee Bershof, MD, Chair, Alyssa Valbona and Samanatha McIver.