Wellesley COVID-19 update: Indoor mask advisory; schools sign on for pool testing; latest town numbers

September 12, 2021 by Bob Brown 1 Comment

Wellesley has added an indoor mask advisory that urges people ages 5 and up to where a mask when indoors in public settings to help slow the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant.

Here’s the full text of the Wellesley Board of Health advisory: “In light of the recent increase in the COVID Virus Delta variant, which has proven to be significantly more transmissible, we are strongly advising that individuals over the age of 5 wear a mask that covers the nose and mouth when indoors in a public setting, regardless of their vaccination status. Please understand that information and data is changing rapidly, and we are doing our best to respond in a thoughtful and expedient manner. As additional information is released from the CDC and Massachusetts Department of Public Health our decisions may change. It’s important that we all remain flexible and vigilant during these times.

The town previously issued an indoor mask mandate for municipal buildings.

Schools sign on for pool testing

Wellesley Public Schools Supt. Dr. David Lussier said during Sept. 9 Board of Health meeting that the School Department has decided to take the state up on all 3 testing programs being offering. Lussier had previously informed the WPS community that plans were to take part in the state’s viral testing program, which includes on-site rapid/antigen tests for those who exhibit COVID symptoms at school as well as for asymptomatic close contacts. The hope was that this will allow more students and staff to remain at school.

With vaccination rates high and COVID-19 case numbers low, it didn’t appear WPS would return to pool (surveillance) testing, though some parents in recent weeks have pushed for that in light of the Delta variant’s rise and the lack of vaccination approval for younger students. Lussier said WPS decided to take part in the state’s pool testing program after all for pre-K through 6th grade after seeing the state with its hands full accommodating demand for the other types of testing. WPS didn’t want to get into a position down the line where it needed the pool testing, which involves interior nasal swabs, and the state wouldn’t be able to provide the resources. As he noted, “massive planning” is required for pool testing.

As for the close contact testing already underway, Lussier would like to see more state guidance on close contacts, such as whether this pertains to just in-school contacts. Even a couple of positive COVID-19 cases can result in dozens of close contacts depending on how you define them.

The public can now again track the COVID-19 case count action at Wellesley Public Schools thanks to reactivation of this dashboard.

Latest town numbers

Here are the latest weekly Massachusetts Department of Public Health vaccination figures for Wellesley. The overall vaccination rate remains at 66%, with increases of not more than 1% in any age category. The state figures include some curiosities, including that more individuals in the 50-64 age category are shown having at least one dose than there are individuals in that segment of the population. Also the 20-19 age category might be wonky due to how college students’ vaccinations are accounted for, including those who go to college in town.

Wellesley says it is averaging 4.4 COVID cases per day, though down in the 3s if you exclude students at colleges in town. The positivity rate per test is low at 0.6%, in part because of an increase in testing of asymptomatic people.

New signs of COVID times in Wellesley

September 1, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

A fresh batch of COVID-19-related signs has been emerging across Wellesley, as businesses and the town take their cues from federal and state guidance as well as do what they think is right for their patrons. The result is a hodgepodge of signage that makes it clear you definitely or maybe should wear a mask depending on where you are headed. Just be sure to have 1 on hand.

Wellesley indoor mask mandate for municipal buildings starts Sept. 1

Among businesses putting in strict rules is cycling gym B/Spoke, which informed clients and staff of the following:

“In light of the recent increase in COVID-19 cases due to the Delta variant, we have spent recent weeks listening, researching, and engaging in productive conversations, while deliberating next steps for the studio in terms of safety protocol and guidelines for both Staff and Clients.

After careful thought and consideration, and based off the current levels of mounting risk surrounding our studios and community, we have made the decision to require proof of vaccination for anyone teaching, working or taking class INDOORS as of TUESDAY, AUGUST 31 at all of our indoor studios and operations.

For anyone taking class or working at any of our INDOOR studios, we will ask all Clients AND Staff Members to provide a one-time proof of a physical vaccination card, a photo of a vaccination card, or other proof from a patient portal or similar platform, that shows proof of FULL vaccination*…”

Businesses like Magic Beans in Linden Square that cater to parents and young kids put in place mask rules to help protect little ones.

Meanwhile, Roche Bros., and others are setting expectations before you get in the door that they might not have everything you’ve come to expect due to supply and supply chain issues.

In Wellesley Square, a variety of signs let you know the mask rules of individual retailers.

The other trendy signs in town are those for Help Wanted.

Wellesley Public Schools are starting the year with masks on indoors, as staff and students will be reminded of constantly as the school year begins.

That goes for all town buildings, in fact.

town hall masks sign — Town Hall greeting

And just for fun, the Swellesley-est sign around.

Wellesley indoor mask mandate for municipal buildings starts Sept. 1

August 29, 2021 by Bob Brown 2 Comments

Don’t forget your mask if you’re 5 or older and plan to enter a Wellesley municipal building, be it Town Hall, the Tolles Parsons Center or police station, come Sept. 1, per the Board of Health and Select Board. It’s been clear that the Board of Health was headed in this direction based on recent public meetings.

Town employees must wear masks whenever engaging with the public indoors, and unvaccinated employees need to wear masks at all times when in municipal buildings.

There are some medical and other exceptions to these COVID-19-inspired rules.

The town, which will provide you with a mask if you forget one, will revisit its rules based on available data.

Wellesley Public Schools also start the year in mask mode for students and staff regardless of COVID-19 vaccination status. The schools will be limited visits by volunteers and others to start the school year, which begins Sept. 1.

Here are latest weekly Massachusetts Department of Public Health vaccination figures for Wellesley. The overall vaccination rate remains at 66% over the past week, with the percentage of 12-15-year-olds seeing the biggest increase, from 87% to 89%. Wellesley added 69 new fully vaccinated residents over the past week.

*It’s unclear why the Department of Public Health reports more individuals with at least one dose in the 50-64 age range than there are individuals in that age range…

Download (PDF, Unknown)

Wellesley COVID-19 update: Masks all around; trickle of newly vaccinated; speak up self-testers

August 23, 2021 by Bob Brown 2 Comments

Wellesley’s Board of Health this week is firming up its support for organizations from the School Department and School Committee to the Council on Aging, as they seek to require mask use in light of rising concerns over the Delta variant of COVID-19.

The Board of Health recommended during its meeting on Monday that the schools start the year with everyone masked, and expect the state to issue such rules anyway on Tuesday morning. While the timing is tricky, the School Committee sought the Board of Health’s guidance in advance of its own Tuesday night meeting, which takes place about a week before the new school year begins. A likely scenario is that the schools could reassess the full mask mandate come October based on how things are going.

The Board of Health navigated the intricacies of advisories vs. mandates vs. orders as it discussed a request from the Council on Aging (COA) for a mask mandate, though the Board is trying to pin down whether the Council might already qualify for a mandate through a state rule applying to congregate care facilities that share functions offered by the COA at the Tolles Parsons Center.

The COA would also like to issue a vaccination mandate for employees and patrons, though legal and human resources requirements remain to be studied on that front. Despite having a good ventilation system at the Tolles Parsons Center and taking other precautions, the COA’s clientele is a highly COVID-vulnerable population, emphasized COA Board Chair Marlene Allen.

Wellesley is looking to issue a strong advisory for the public and public facing town employees to wear masks while in town buildings, and discussed at the Board of Health meeting the possibility of a mask mandate for town employees. Union and legal issues would need to be hashed out on that front first.

The Board of Health has a date on Thursday with the Select Board to discuss and vote on an indoor mask mandate for town buildings.

Trickle of newly vaccinated

The share of Wellesley’s overall population fully vaccinated against COVID-19 remains at 66% and the percentage of those eligible who have been fully vaxxed remain at 77% over the past week.

Fewer than 100 additional residents have become fully vaccinated over the past week, according to weekly data released by the state.

Speak up self-testers

Wellesley’s Health Department says the town is averaging 1 or 2 cases a day, with no major trends among those infected. Though the department is getting concerned about keeping a read on the situation in light of increased use of home tests and more difficulty finding public places nearby to get tested.

The Health Department is urging members of the public who are using self-tests to reach out to the town and their doctors with results if they test positive.

The town wants to make sure people are taking the right steps to stop the spread of the virus.

COVID-19 Delta variant delaying Wellesley Public Schools’ return to normalcy

August 19, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

Wellesley Public Schools Supt. Dr. David Lussier has notified members of the school community that administrators are looking forward to starting the school year with full in-person schedules on Sept. 1, but that the rise of the COVID-19 Delta variant has spoiled plans for true normalcy.

“When we adjourned for the summer break, there was a sense of optimism that we were putting the worst of the pandemic behind us and that we were on the path to normalcy,” wrote Lussier in a note shared with us by parents. “Throughout these past few months, however, it’s become clear that the Delta variant of the virus is incredibly serious and will require even more coordinated action across our nation to address. In short, we still have work to do to help ensure a safe return to in-person learning this fall and a safe school year ahead.”

As we’ve reported about this public health issue in recent weeks, the schools boast high vaccination rates among staff and eligible students ages 12. and above. Also, while the Centers for Disease Control recommends schools start the year with indoor mask wearing, state authorities have been less strict about vaccinated students, leaving local school districts to define their own rules

“For the past few weeks, WPS has been in ongoing conversations with our Town Health Department and Board of Health about COVID-19 preparations for the new school year, including the decision to require masks indoors,” Lussier wrote. “As part of these conversations, I have shared the WPS Administration’s recommendation that all students and staff begin the school year wearing masks indoors across the district. We believe it’s prudent to begin the year with this step, particularly as we will no longer be maintaining an across-the-board social distancing standard, nor has the state authorized districts to offer a remote learning option. We think it’s important to revisit this masking requirement–likely after the first month of school– in light of evolving local and state data, to help ensure that this mitigation practice is still needed.”

School and health officials have already begun discussions about such “off-ramping” procedures.

Lussier also informed the WPS community that plans are to take part in. the state’s viral testing program, which includes on-site rapid/antigen tests for those who exhibit COVID symptoms at school as well as for asymptomatic close contacts. The hope is that this will allow more students and staff to remain at school. With vaccination rates high and COVID-19 case numbers low, there’s no need for WPS to return to its gold-plated testing system from the past school year.

Lussier is hopeful. that the Board of Health will approve the school system’s recommendations on Monday, and that the School Committee will approve the plan on Tuesday.

We always appreciate members of the direct school community sharing memos of public interest with us: [email protected]

Wellesley COVID-19 update: Close to 80% of eligible residents fully vaxxed; no mask mandate for now

August 17, 2021 by Bob Brown Leave a Comment

The share of Wellesley’s overall population fully vaccinated against COVID-19 has hit 66% and the percentage of those eligible who have been fully vaxxed is now 77%. About 150 more residents have become fully vaccinated over the past 2 weeks, according to weekly data released by the state.

Statewide, COVID-19 numbers have started to creep up, as the highly contagious Delta variant of the virus infects people, mainly those who are unvaccinated. The Commonwealth has issued a new mask advisory.

At the Board of Health meeting last week the director of nursing said we’re now at about 2 new cases per day in Wellesley.

Increases in the fully vaccinated within age ranges are now modest at best, though. the 12-15-year-old category has seen a relatively big 3% jump over the past 2 weeks.

The 20-29 bracket is at just 54%.

There are theories as to why this age category is behind, including that college students may have been vaccinated partially in Massachusetts and partially elsewhere or entirely in another state, and that the numbers haven’t been tallied the same as for other categories. There’s also concern nationally that this age group may not feel it’s at as much risk from COVID-19, and they’re not as influenced by parents to get shots as teens would be.

Wellesley has nearly 19,500 residents fully vaccinated, and the state has surpassed 4.4 million people fully vaccinated against the disease.

Wellesley has 72% of its population with at least 1 dose.

No mask mandate for now

Wellesley Board of Health and Health Department members gave the Select Board a COVID update on Monday night (see first half hour of Wellesley Media recording, and discussed a possible advisory for indoor. mask use in town, but not a full-blown mandate like the one Lexington puts into effect this week.

Health officials cited the town’s overall high vaccination rate, and 90%-plus vaccination rates across key town departments like the DPW and library, for stopping short of a mandate. It might be possible the town would request those entering public buildings and interacting with town employees to mask up, and for public-facing town employees to do likewise.

Health officials also suggested that the vaccination stats from the state on Wellesley might not capture information on residents who headed south in the spring or were at school and got vaccinated outside of Massachusetts.

Public Health Director Lenny Izzo says businesses are being encouraged to do what they feel is appropriate, and noted that not many businesses have reached out for guidance. Babson and Wellesley College are requiring students be vaccinated.

Conversations on these topics are constant among town health officials.

“It’s a conversation we’re having daily 7 days a week,” Izzo said. “It’s not going anywhere right not. Someday it will.”

Wellesley COVID-19 update: Officials can’t get enough of ‘off-ramping’

August 13, 2021 by Bob Brown 2 Comments

Wellesley public school and health officials trying navigate COVID-19 have latched on to some new favorite jargon: “Off-ramping.” They tossed this term around so much at the Aug. 11 Board of Health meeting that I half expected someone from the town’s Highway Division to drop in.

In this context, “off-ramping” refers to phasing out mitigation protocols like mandatory masking for all or some school community members based on predetermined metrics. For example, perhaps masking could go away for high school students and staff if the vaccination rate among them gets high enough (82% of vaccine-eligible students already have at least 1 dose, and 88% of faculty & staff were fully vaccinated by the end of this past school year based on self reporting). Only half of WPS students are eligible for the vaccine based on age.

Wellesley Public Schools now boast improved sanitizing systems, air filtration, and other safety protocols borne out of the past year of coping with and responding to the COVID threat. Based on discussion over the past 2 weeks, it feels as though Wellesley Public Schools is headed toward an indoor mask mandate for students and staff when classes start up on Sept. 1 regardless of vaccination status, though school officials looked to the Board of Health for guidance during Aug. 11 meeting. Discussions remain ongoing.

“We believe it makes sense, that it would be prudent and proactive to start the year wth everyone being masked,” WPS Supt. Dr. David Lussier said during the meeting, referencing a recommendation to the School Committee. The hope would be to “lessen that restriction later on,” he added.

That’s when the off-ramping discussion began in earnest, with Dr. Shira Doron, an immunologist and Wellesley parent, diving into the subject. She acknowledged the danger of the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID (“we don’t know where it’s going to go…”), but stressed that this area of the country is in a much better place by any number of measures regarding the pandemic than it was over the winter. She was readying for several off-ramping meetings this week, she said, and sought input from the school and health officials.

She did warn that off-ramps based on complicated mathematical models about risk can be difficult to communicate to the public. Other data, such as number of positive tests or hospitalizations, might not quite work at this point. Vaccination rate is an option, though as seen recently, you can still see transmissions and outbreaks even when vaccination rates are high.

Lussier said giving the community a sense of what measures might trigger a lessening of restrictions at schools would be important so that they don’t assume initial measures will be permanent.

Board Chair Shep Cohen suggested a smaller group from among those at the meeting might form to identify appropriate off-ramping measures, as not all board members were ready to make a recommendation to the schools without a clearer definition of off-ramping thresholds.

Although as Doron noted, “a key thing is being ready to re-discuss this issue very frequently.”

On the matter of COVID-19 testing, Lussier’s team doesn’t see widespread asymptomatic screening as useful in light of current data. However, rapid symptomatic screening in school could be useful for keeping kids in class, he said. The state is offering such “test and stay” programs for free.