Updates from State Rep. Dan Cahill, Lynn COVID-19 numbers, & more | May 13, 2020

Tune in at 3pm every weekday on our Government Channel or Facebook page for an update from city officials. Past updates can be found by clicking here. At 2pm & 8pm we are also airing Gov. Baker’s press conferences.

See other COVID-19 related posts by clicking here.
See our running list of announcements for Lynn by visiting bit.ly/LynnCOVID19.

Gov. Baker waiting until Monday to give more details on reopening state

Gov. Charlie Baker said he expects to announce a decision on whether to extend or lift the current stay-at-home advisory on Monday when asked on Wednesday. He was asked for details about the reopening plan, but stressed that he will wait until Monday to release specifics.

Monday’s report from the Reopening Advisory Board is expected to include the activities and industries that will be safe to resume in each phase, and the safety and cleaning protocols for how different industries should operate.

Without providing specifics, Baker reiterated Wednesday that those businesses reopening in the first phase will be those “likely to be successful,” ones that don’t have a lot of close contact with customers or organizations designed in such a way so their ability to execute on a strategy of distancing would be “relatively uncomplicated for them to do.”

Information above courtesy of NBC Boston.
Full article can be found by clicking here.

The public is being allowed to submit comments to the Reopening Advisory Board. Comments will be reviewed and taken into consideration while developing their reopening report.

This can be done via the state’s website by clicking here.

Be counted in the 2020 Census

Lynn City Clerk & Election Chief Janet Rowe said that currently the City of Lynn is at an estimated 44% response rate. The City of Lynn Election Office is challenging you to fill out your 2020 Census form if you haven’t done so already.

Tag your family & friends or share this post to their Facebook page to challenge them to fill out their 2020 Census. Its quick and so easy to do it online or over the phone.

LYNN is ALL in! Be counted!

State Rep. Dan Cahill has been sending out updates to his constituents in the 10th Essex District on the evolving COVID-19 pandemic.

Below are updates from the Administration over the last week that Rep. Cahill included in his latest newsletter. This list gives information on the phased reopening strategy, contact tracing program, & more.

If you would like to subscribe to Rep. Cahill’s email list please click here.

Phased Reopening

The Administration announced a four-phase approach to reopening the Massachusetts economy amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, and published Mandatory Workplace Safety Standards that will apply across all sectors and industries once reopening begins.

The goal of the phased reopening, based on public health guidance, is to methodically allow certain businesses, services, and activities to resume, while protecting public health and limiting a resurgence of new COVID-19 cases.

• Phase 1 will be “Start:” limited industries resume operations with severe restrictions
• Phase 2 will be “Cautious:” additional industries resume operations with restrictions and capacity limits
• Phase 3 will be “Vigilant:” additional industries resume operations with guidance
• Phase 4 will be the “New Normal:” development of vaccine and/or therapy enables resumption of new normal

Businesses and activities that provided “COVID-19 Essential Services,” per Governor Baker’s March 23^rd order, will continue to operate. Certain businesses and activities with a lower risk of COVID-19 transmission will open in earlier phases. Decisions and timing will be influenced by public health metrics for when the first phase of reopening begins, as well as when it is safe to move into concurrent phases.

CLICK HERE for more information about the four-phased reopening approach.

CLICK HERE for today’s presentation from the Reopening Advisory Board.

Additionally, the Department of Public Health (DPH) and the COVID-19 Command Center, in consultation with the Reopening Advisory Board and based on feedback from industry, labor, and community coalitions, has developed Mandatory Workplace Safety Standards to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission as employees and customers begin to return to workplaces during the first phase of reopening. These Mandatory Workplace Safety Standards are applicable to all sectors and industries that will be open in phase one, and create new workplace requirements for social distancing, hygiene, staffing and operations, and cleaning. These standards are being released to give workplaces time to plan and prepare for reopening.

For social distancing:

• All persons, including employees, customers, and vendors should remain at least six feet apart to the greatest extent possible, both inside and outside workplaces
• Establish protocols to ensure that employees can practice adequate social distancing
• Provide signage for safe social distancing
• Require face coverings or masks for all employees

For hygiene:

• Provide hand washing capabilities throughout the workplace
• Ensure frequent hand washing by employees and adequate supplies to do so
• Provide regular sanitization of high touch areas, such as workstations, equipment, screens, doorknobs, restrooms throughout work site

For staffing and operations:

• Provide training for employees regarding the social distancing and hygiene protocols
• Employees who are displaying COVID19-like symptoms do not report to work
• Establish a plan for employees getting ill from COVID-19 at work, and a return-to-work plan

For cleaning and disinfecting:

• Establish and maintain cleaning protocols specific to the business
• When an active employee is diagnosed with COVID-19, cleaning and disinfecting must be performed
• Disinfection of all common surfaces must take place at intervals appropriate to said workplace

CLICK HERE for more information about the Mandatory Workplace Safety Standards.

In addition to these Mandatory Standards which apply to all workplaces, the Reopening Advisory Board is developing Sector Specific Safety Protocols and Best Practices that will detail how particular industries should operate upon reopening.
The Reopening Advisory Board is scheduled to provide its full report to Governor Baker on Monday, May 18^th.

Contract Tracing

The Administration joined Partners in Health and local public health officials to provide an update on contract tracing efforts through the COVID-19 Community Tracing Collaborative (CTC) launched last month. The initiative focuses on tracing the contacts of confirmed positive COVID-19 patients, and supporting individuals in quarantine, building on COVID-19 Response Command Center efforts to leverage public health college students to augment the contact tracing being done by local boards of health.

If an individual tests positive for COVID-19, the MA COVID Team will reach out by phone to connect the confirmed case with support and resources necessary for quarantine, and to identify any close contacts that may have been exposed. As the CTC continues its contact tracing work to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, it is critical that Massachusetts residents answer the phone when a contact tracer calls or texts. Contact tracers will only reach out from phone numbers with 833 or 857 area codes, and the phone’s caller ID will say MA COVID Team.

To learn more about the MA COVID Team and the Community Tracing Collaborative, visit www.mass.gov/MATracingTeam.

Community Health Centers

In partnership with the Mass League of Community Health Centers, the Baker-Polito Administration today announced an upcoming new COVID-19 public awareness campaign, “New Tools, New Rules – Same Great Care.”

Community Health Centers throughout the Commonwealth are open and accepting patients, and this campaign encourages residents to continue to seek care for their medical conditions and reminds individuals not to delay treatment as a result of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

In additional to implementing additional, onsite safety protocols, many Community Health Centers have introduced and expanded telehealth care options. Furthermore, MassHealth contracts with three telehealth providers to offer additional support for members with questions about symptoms that might be related to COVID-19.
Featuring diverse patients with common conditions such as asthma, diabetes and pregnancy, these ads will run for free on WCVB in the Greater Boston area and on WWLP-22News and The CW Springfield in Western Massachusetts.

Digital video advertisements on Facebook will be in English, Spanish and other languages, and will specifically target regions with the highest populations of families in need of services.

M-ERT Team

Governor Charlie Baker toured MatTek Life Sciences, a Massachusetts-based company of 35 years, that is currently participating in the Baker-Polito Administration’s Manufacturing Emergency Response Team (M-ERT). This initiative assists local manufacturers in transitioning operations to produce personal protective equipment (PPE) and other critical items needed to support the Commonwealth’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Boasting a highly trained scientific staff, expertise in cell culture and building human tissues, and existing relationships with government agencies and the FDA, MatTek was uniquely positioned to shift their operations to support the Commonwealth’s response to COVID-19. The transition from the manufacture of cell culture media to the production of viral transport media was streamlined with support from the M-ERT’s experts, particularly MIT’s System Design and Management program. In MatTek’s normal operations, many of its 3D tissue types have been used in COVID-19 antiviral research – EpiAirway, EpiOral and EpiIntestinal – with the EpiAirway tissue being particularly relevant for this research, providing a human-based platform for scientists to get more relevant results much faster than if they used animals.

In addition to providing essential products for COVID-19 research, six weeks ago MatTek also pivoted labs and staff into producing hand sanitizer, and has donated hundreds of liters to local first responders and medical facilities, and shipped thousands of liters across the country.

MatTek has received grant support through the M-ERT’s funding program launched last month to substantially increase their output of viral transport media. The Massachusetts Life Sciences Center is among the M-ERT partners that have made capital funding available to pivoting manufacturers.

About the Manufacturing Emergency Response Team (M-ERT): The M-ERT is a coordinated response by the Baker-Polito Administration and leading academic and industry stakeholders to support the Commonwealth’s manufacturers in their efforts to produce much-needed supplies for front-line workers and the health care system. The M-ERT is led by the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech) and members include representatives from: Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA), MIT, MIT Lincoln Labs, the University of Massachusetts Lowell, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MassMEP), Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), and other industry partners.

The M-ERT also launched $10.6 million in new funding to help manufacturers scale their operations to produce PPE and other critical items. Companies can apply for grants through an online form for equipment, materials, supplies, workforce training and other needs. A Review Committee will process applications based on criteria including production timeline and recommend grant awards.

The M-ERT has graduated 27 companies that have produced almost 3 million PPE items to date. As of Thursday, 704 companies in total have reached out to participate in the M-ERT initiative, including 434 from Massachusetts.