Bedford Town Publishes Coronavirus Update For June 11

Press release from the Town of Bedford:

June 11, 2020

The Bedford COVID-19 Task Force met Thursday, June 11, 2020 to review the latest guidance from the Department of Public Health (DPH), the office of Governor Charlie Baker, and Town Legal Counsel.

The COVID-19 Task Force is comprised of the following Town officials:

Sarah Stanton, Town Manager

Jon Sills, Superintendent of Schools

Heidi Porter, Director of Health and Human Services

Robert Bongiorno, Police Chief

David Grunes, Fire Chief

Taissir Alani, Facilities Director

Current Cases

As of today, June 11, 2020, there have been a total of two hundred forty-two (242) positive cases of COVID-19 reported to the Town of Bedford Board of Health by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MA DPH), of those, one hundred thirty-three (133) are Bedford residents not living in a healthcare/long term care setting. Forty (40) deaths of Bedford residents have been attributed to COVID-19. The total case number includes residents of the Town of Bedford, including but not limited to those in: single-family homes, apartments, the VA campus, Hanscom Air Force Base, special needs group homes and any and all other larger assisted living/care facilities in Bedford as reported to us by the MA DPH.

As you may be aware, long-term care facilities serving the elderly and congregate care facilities, house susceptible populations with underlying conditions who are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Increased testing occurs at these facilities and results in more positive cases being identified. As such, cities and towns with these facilities, like Bedford, experience elevated positive case counts and, unfortunately, deaths due to the vulnerability to COVID-19 of the populations within those facilities.

Seventy-seven (77) of the total Bedford cases have already recovered and have come off of isolation and there may other Bedford residents who would be considered persons under investigation in that they are symptomatic, have undergone testing but have not yet received results. There are other individuals impacted by COVID-19 in the community that have not sought medical attention, and/or have not been tested and are isolating at home regardless. Those individuals do not appear on the surveillance reports the Town receives from the MA DPH.

The Board of Health continues to do the appropriate follow-up and outreach to those residents and close contacts known to us and the VA is conducting follow-up and contact tracing of the Veteran’s under their care. Many of the identified close contacts of some of the Bedford cases never exhibited symptoms, have completed their required quarantine period and have been released from quarantine by the Board of Health.Please note, in part to alleviate the community concern, the VA does do a daily report of their numbers, which includes inpatients, outpatients and staff, many of whom do not call Bedford home. The information can be found here: https://www.accesstocare.va.gov/Healthcare/COVID19NationalSummary

Enjoy the Nice Weather and Reopening of the Economy - but please continue to Slow the Spread!

With the nice weather upon us and businesses and facilities opening their doors as part of the Phase II Reopening of the Massachusetts economy, residents may have a strong desire to go out and about and enjoy it all. While Bedford parks, playgrounds and athletic fields are open to adults and youths, group sizes should consist of no more than 10 people total and contact sports (e.g., basketball, football, baseball, soccer, field hockey, lacrosse, hockey and other sports where ordinary play puts players in direct contact or close proximity) must limit activities exclusively to no-contact drills and practices. In an effort to support our local economy, we’ve prepared the following outreach flyer to encourage residents who choose to go out and support local businesses during this period to help Bedford Reopen Smoothly - https://www.bedfordma.gov/economic-development/news/help-our-small-businesses-reopen-smoothly

The Bedford Board of Health and the COVID-19 Task Force, who have been working so diligently to keep you informed and protected during this epidemic, caution residents to strictly adhere to limitations and restrictions in place as part of the reopening protocols. Please use social distancing. Please wear a face covering when leaving your home. Please wash your hands often for 20 seconds. Please do not touch your face. Please do not gather in large groups. Know the symptoms of COVID-19 and get tested if you’ve had an exposure. Stay safe and, with these actions, continue to slow the spread.

Answer The Call!

The Board of Health asks Bedford Residents to be part of the COVID-19 solution and “Answer the Call!” If you’ve tested positive for COVID- 19 or if you’ve been in close contact with someone who has tested positive, a representative of the COVID Community Team, including the Bedford Community Health Nurse, the School Nurses and representatives from the MA Community Tracing Collaborative will be reaching out via phone to you and your close contacts to slow the spread. We’ll help support you and will help to keep track of symptoms to move you through isolation and quarantine appropriately. Your name will not be publically released but the information you can provide to us is imperative in slowing the spread so we can get to the other side of this outbreak. For some tips on quarantining at home, navigate to: https://www.mass.gov/doc/10-tips-for-at-home-quarantine-or-self-monitoring/download

COVID-19 Public Resources Map

MEMA, together with MA Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster and other partners, has developed a COVID-19 Public Resources Map showing the location of resources available to the public, such as food banks, houses of worship, and Project Bread site locations and includes Bedford Food Bank site at the John Glenn Middle School. Please note that this map is not inclusive of all resources and is only as accurate as the information that has been provided to MEMA. To view the map, navigate to:

https://memamaps.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=5867d881a9324121839605c56a3d7cc9

This press release was produced by the Town of Bedford. The views expressed here are the author’s own.