LYNN NEWS ROUND-UP
AUGUST 27, 2020

See our other COVID-19 related posts by clicking here.

Read about early voting & info. on MA State Primary candidates on our 2020 Election section by clicking here.

September episode of GLSS TV

From Greater Lynn Senior Services: This episode focuses on nutrition and eating well. We’ll see what’s available at the Farmer’s Market and then prepare a tasty and healthy zucchini and pasta dish that you can make yourself! We’ll also practice some simple stretching exercises and learn about breathing techniques to help you relax.

Watch GLSS TV on LCTV’s Public Access Channel (Comcast: 3 / Verizon: 38) Mondays at 10:30 am, Wednesdays at 9:00 pm, and Fridays at 5:30 pm

Household hazardous waste collection day this Saturday from 8am-12pm

Weekly MA Dept. of Public Health COVID-19 numbers released, Lynn still biggest hotspot

Every week on Wednesday afternoon the MA Department of Public Health releases weekly numbers for how COVID-19 has impacted the state. Their numbers factor in the past week as well as the week before, giving 2 weeks worth of data.

There are currently 9 communities are in the red category, and 31 communities in the yellow category. Below are the statistics for the communities in red, which includes Lynn. Lynn topped the categories this week in case count over 14 days, total tests (overall & over 14 days), & positivity rate over the last 14 days. The good news is that positivity rates & relative change in case counts are both lower this week than last week.

Updates from state government

• As of Wednesday night, DPH reported a total of 117,085 cases of COVID-19. The state has now confirmed a total of 8,755 deaths from the virus.
• The House and Senate will meet on Thursday in informal sessions at 11am.
• The Supreme Judicial Court has upheld the Sept. 1 deadline for local election officials to receive mail-in primary election ballots. The court ruled Wednesday in a lawsuit filed by Fourth Congressional District candidate Becky Grossman, who sought a 10-day extension of the period allocated for counting mail-in primary ballots.
• The 22-page decision, authored by Justice Scott Kafker, comes six days before a primary where several contentious races are set to be decided including the contest between U.S. Sen. Ed Markey and U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, and the race featuring a crowded field of Democrats running in the Fourth Congressional District.
• With the primary election only six days away, two new polls released Wednesday showed U.S. Sen. Ed Markey with an apparent lead over his challenger, Congressman Joe Kennedy III. A poll of likely Massachusetts Democratic primary voters conducted by the progressive Data for Progress think tank found 46 percent ready to vote for Markey, 38 percent in support of Kennedy, and 16 percent not sure who to back. Among those who are uncertain, Kennedy saw slightly more support at 30 percent to 28 percent. In a separate survey the UMass Lowell Center for Public Opinion ran of 800 likely Democratic primary voters, 52 percent supported Markey compared to 40 percent who backed Kennedy.
• Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) leads his progressive challenger, Alex Morse, by nine points ahead of the heavily contested September 1 Democratic primary in Massachusetts’s 1st congressional district, according to a new Jewish Insider poll. The poll, which is based on 518 voter surveys conducted by RABA Research on August 23 and 24, puts Neal on relatively comfortable footing with 49% of the vote, placing him outside the 4.3% margin of error.”
• The economic shutdown of March and April stalled it, but the spring real estate season eventually reached full bloom amid “super strong” demand that drove prices up to new highs, data on home sales in July shows. The Warren Group said there were 6,765 single-family home sales in Massachusetts last month, a 5.3 percent increase from July 2019. The increase came after three months of double-digit declines in year-over-year home sales, and the median sale price rose 8.2 percent from last year to a new all-time high for July, $460,000.

From Mayor McGee’s office: The Lynn Public Health Department has confirmed that as of today, the number of active, confirmed positive COVID-19 cases is 620 with 15 new cases today. 3, 789 Lynn residents have recovered and 114 have died. The total number of confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Lynn since March 21, 2020, including those who have died and recovered, is 4,523. Please visit the new City of Lynn COVID-19 Data Dashboard which is updated daily.

Due to the continued uptick in our positive test rate in Lynn, the City is taking a number of steps to curb the spread of COVID-19 in our community including: ramping up patrols of gatherings and athletic playing that is not allowed by state guidelines, such as basketball, in our parks; no events at Manning and Fraser Fields and limiting permitted organized events at other City properties and buildings; sending direct educational mailings in multiple languages to our residents; and putting in place an Enforcement and Compliance Team to ensure state guidelines are followed by businesses and members of the public. Noncompliance of state guidelines, including large gatherings, will be enforced by fines.

These steps will be in place until further notice, as we remain designated a higher risk community by state data standards.

We need to continue to be diligent and focus on continuing to follow and comply with the state guidelines pertaining to social distancing, personal hygiene, don’t share food and drinks, wearing face coverings at all times when interacting with others, and especially not gathering with people beyond those you live with. Our actions or lack of responsible action, in following the guidelines, will determine how we limit the spread in our community and ensure we keep out community safe.

Please visit http://www.ci.lynn.ma.us/covid19/resources.shtml#p7GPc1_2 for more information on how you can get a free COVID-19 test in the City of Lynn until September 12.

We will continue to provide regular updates on COVID-19 through the City website (www.lynnma.gov), social media, and the Smart 911 emergency notification syst