It’s the exact situation public health officials had been hoping to avoid, after spending months begging people to get vaccinated so that they could go back to living life normally.
The backslide.
The spread of the delta variant and new research into breakthrough infections in Provincetown prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to issue updated guidance Tuesday recommending that even the fully vaccinated resume wearing masks in indoor public spaces in areas of “high” or “substantial” COVID-19 transmission.
In Massachusetts — ground zero for the pandemic once again — that meant Cape Cod and the islands, as well as all of Suffolk and Bristol counties.
“We’re looking into it,” Baker would say repeatedly throughout the week, back in the position of being grilled daily on whether he would order Massachusetts residents to mask up.
The push-and-pull only got stronger as the week wore on, and finally on Friday the Department of Public Health and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued new recommendations for vaccinated residents.
Masks are now being recommended by DPH in public indoor spaces, though not necessarily at home, for both the unvaccinated and the vaccinated who have weakened immune systems or who live with someone unvaccinated or with health conditions that put them at higher risk from the virus.
Education officials also advised that all students in grades K-6 wear masks indoors this fall, while vaccinated students in grades 7 and up should be allowed to go maskless. The unvaccinated, including staff in all grades, students in grades 7 and above, and unvaccinated visitors are being advised by health officials to mask inside schools.
And the blowback…
Some were unimpressed, to say the least.
“The guidance issued today by Governor Charlie Baker’s Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is no guidance at all,” said Merrie Najimy, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association, in a statement on Friday afternoon. “Rather than adopt a plan in line with the guidance issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Academy of Pediatrics, DESE is essentially signaling that students, educators and families should not take seriously the reality of the alarming rise in the number of cases of COVID-19.”
State Sen. Becca Rausch, D-Needham, also panned the guidance, stating that the Baker administration “failed our commonwealth’s children and families.”
“The DESE/DPH masking guidance falls far short of the data-driven recommendations of the CDC, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and hundreds of Massachusetts medical and public health experts: everyone age 2 and up in every school setting — from child care through grade 12 — must wear masks indoors,” she said in a statement. “Kids, parents, teachers and school committees have been through enough; they deserve better than weak, unenforceable, nonbinding guidelines that further endanger their health and safety.”
Getting extra credit
There’s a mounting local effort to ensure that eligible families apply for the new and larger child tax credit.
The tax credit was expanded as part of the federal $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, passed earlier this year. It increases the standard credit to $3,600 per year for children under 6, and to $3,000 for children ages 6-17 for 2021, with half of the payment amount paid out monthly starting July 15.
The child tax credit previously maxed out at $2,000 annually per qualifying child.
The Biden administration has said the program was expanded as part of its efforts to lift poor families out of poverty and to spur healthy child development.
But hundreds of Framingham families with children stand to miss out. According to a ZIP code analysis by the IRS, at least 1,253 children in the city may be eligible to be claimed for the expanded child tax credit — but have not been claimed on a recent tax return.
This is because their parents or caregivers are not required to file taxes, and will thus not be automatically enrolled for the benefit.
Lino Covarrubias, CEO of the Jewish Family Services of the MetroWest, told the Daily News that his organization will act as a “community convener” in bringing different stakeholders with connections to families together to tackle the issue.
This includes the Framingham Public Schools, Pelham Community Center, Brazilian American Center and South Middlesex Opportunity Council, among others.
“The families that qualify for these funds are majority-marginalized families — already low-income — and we’ve seen through the pandemic every little bit helps,” said Covarrubias. “Particularly, for these young students, it’s money for clothing, back to school, all the things, all the costs incurred by the families having children, this is a huge help.”
Organizing will begin this month, with Covarrubias hoping to arrange events where people can access help on how to apply for the tax credit.
“Together, we could really help community members, particularly those who do not file (taxes),” he said Covarrubias.
Baker gets skin treatment
Baker recently received “routine” dermatological treatment, his office said Thursday after the governor appeared at several public events this week with bandages, dark blotches or scabs dotting his visage.
“Gov. Baker recently underwent routine dermatology procedures which resulted in no serious issues,” communications director Sarah Finlaw wrote in a statement released by Baker’s office to the News Service and others following an inquiry. “He encourages all Massachusetts residents to consult their primary care physician about healthy skin care.”
Adhesive bandages were affixed to Baker’s face during a Monday press availability that followed his meeting with House Speaker Ron Mariano and Senate President Karen Spilka, while the blotches were visible during a Wednesday event in Gloucester streamed live online.
Who wants to be a millionaire?
We have a winner. Weymouth resident Darrell Washington is the first winner of the state’s VaxMillions lottery, taking home $1 million (pre-taxes, of course).
What’s he going to do with the money?
“I’ll do good things with it,” he said according to a report from MassLive.
Chelsea resident Daniela Maldonado, a 15-year-old student, won the first $300,000 scholarship.
There are still four more $1 million prizes and scholarships state officials plan to hand out.
Paint the Town (Hall)
Milford expects to spend $240,000 to give its historic Town Hall a new coat of paint.
The town awarded a contract to Arlington-based Fox Painting Company Inc., one of three bidders.
Workers will need to handle extensive lead remediation. According to a lead survey conducted in June, there is a high concentration of it in several areas on the Town Hall’s exterior.
Typical concentrations are 10 to 30 mg/cm2, the report said. Milford showed up to 31 in one test spot, and in the teens and 20s in others. Fox Painting will need to protect workers, residents and the environment when repainting.
In addition to painting, the company is also being asked to clean the gold leaf in the dome and eagle finial and gild where needed, with 23.7-karat gold patent gold leaf.
They said it…
“I had a male officer come up to me and say, ‘I didn’t think you had what it takes to be a police officer, (but) I don’t think of you as a female police officer, you’re just a good police officer.’ That meant a lot.” — Ciara Maguire, Holliston police detective
“It’s really hard for the casual home user to grow weed. You can’t just stick it in a window. It doesn’t work.” — Eric Robichaud, CEO of Green Goddess Supply, a Hopedale company that makes marijuana accessories, including a cabinet called the Armoire that allows residents to discreetly grow the cannabis plant indoors.
Contributors to the Political Notebook this week include Deputy Director of Multimedia Dan O’Brien, multimedia journalists Alison Bosma and Zane Razzaq, and the State House News Service.
