Natick To Stop Giving Coronavirus Numbers Citing State Guidance

NATICK, MA — Natick officials on Friday announced that they will stop releasing information about the number of new coronavirus cases in town following a conference call with the state Department of Health and representatives from Gov. Charlie Baker's office.

Natick said that the state told health departments not to share community-specific numbers during a conference call on Friday — but a state DPH spokesperson on Monday contradicted that claim.

"The decision to share case counts is the responsibility of a city or town," the state DPH statement sent to Patch on Monday read in part. "DPH recommends that local boards of health respect the privacy and confidentiality of residents when providing case counts."

Natick's statement indicated that explicit guidance had come down from the state not to share local numbers.

"Local board of health departments were informed we are not to post COVID-19 statistics from our individual communities," the statement posted on the Natick website on Friday reads. "Both, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Gov. Baker issued the directive. This order was put in place to protect the identity and privacy of those individuals affected by this virus."

As of March 26, Natick had two confirmed COVID-19 cases. Each day since Friday, Natick has only shared the number of cases in Middlesex County.

Natick Public Health Director James White Jr. said that guidance from DPH has changed, and on Monday was waiting to see new guidance from the state on releasing local numbers.

Other local communities have continued to share numbers since Friday. Framingham, Marlborough, and Worcester provide daily updates on the number of cases and the number of people who have recovered from the disease. Wayland provides weekly updates.

"The Framingham Health Department finds that there is value for Framingham residents to understand that the virus is spreading in the community," a statement from that city sent on Saturday reads. "MDPH specified that 'if [communities] choose to share the number of cases or deaths for these purposes, please do so with the highest regard for privacy and confidentiality by not including any information other than the case count.' The City will continue to share these numbers with the highest regard for privacy and confidentiality by not including any additional information other than the case count in public announcements about new cases."