COVID Task Force eyes path out of high risk status

Members of the COVID-19 Task Force are optimistic that Canton will soon drop out of the high-risk category for COVID transmission, assuming continued vigilance and cooperation from residents.

The task force, made up in part of Fire Chief and Emergency Services Coordinator Charles Doody, Select Board member Lisa Lopez, Canton Head School Physician Dr. Daniel Muse along with new Public Health Nurse James Goodrich and Public Health Director Barbara Reardon, fielded 17 questions from the public during a Zoom webinar held last Thursday, September 9. The webinar was held at nearly the same time as the Canton Board of Health meeting, which centered on the newly approved indoor mask mandate (see meeting recap in this week’s Citizen). Reardon and Goodrich came in towards the latter part of the hour-long webinar.

Opening the meeting, Doody noted that Canton, as of September 2, was classified as a “substantially high risk” community based on rates of transmission. However, he said he does not believe that Canton is any more dangerous than surrounding towns.

Doody reported that Canton had 15 new positive cases last week. Goodrich later added that if Canton reduces its case count to 12 or lower over a seven-day span, Canton could exit the high-risk zone. “We are not far off,” he said.

Goodrich’s comments were echoed by Doody, who noted that 70 percent of the town’s population has been vaccinated.

Interim School Superintendent Derek Folan reported that the Canton schools had eight positive cases after the first week of school, and a ninth case was reported in the CPS COVID dashboard for the period between September 9-11. Overall, Folan said the Canton schools had a “phenomenal” first week with several safety measures in place, including expanded COVID testing, air purification and ventilation in every classroom, and use of the online COVID dashboard.

Folan said the expansion of testing has greatly reduced the need to quarantine close contacts; however, he said the recent data shows that COVID is still “present” and the mitigation strategies are needed. “We just don’t want anything interrupting the continuity of education happening in our schools,” he said.

Regarding sports and activities, Folan was pleased to report that all programs are up and running, with masking required for all indoor activities (including volleyball practices/matches and indoor cheerleading practices).

Folan said that the School Committee will review the district’s mask policy at its October 7 meeting and also reiterated that the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) may consider lifting the statewide mask mandate for schools with a vaccination rate of 80 percent or greater (currently applies to middle and high schools).

Regarding the expansion of vaccine eligibility to children under 12, Dr. Muse called it the “million-dollar question,” noting that federal health officials have targeted the late fall for a possible rollout depending on the results of ongoing vaccine trials. Muse said he personally could envision vaccines for children becoming available sometime around the December holiday break and assured viewers that approval is only a matter of time. “It will happen,” he insisted. “These are some of the safest vaccines that have ever been produced.”

Muse did warn about another variant of the virus, “Mu,” which has now been reported in all 50 states. Muse said this latest variant, which was first detected in Colombia in January 2021, has proven to be versatile and can mutate quickly. “With this one, the concern is that it has mutated to the point that it can bypass the antibodies,” he said, adding that the vaccines may need to start changing in order to be effective against this and other emerging variants.

Still, Muse said the best thing the public can do now is to get vaccinated.

“The best way to stop it,” he said, “the way you kill off a virus, is to prevent it from replicating … because every time it replicates there’s a chance something worse is going to come up.”

He added that while experts are aiming for an 80 percent vaccination rate, he thinks it may need to go higher than that. “I’m telling you right now, we’re going to have to get close to 85 to 90 percent to really get this under control,” he said. “That’s what will save us.”

In other news, Lopez said the town event to commemorate the 85 deaths in Canton caused by COVID-19 has been moved from September 17 to Wednesday, October 6, at the Armando Recreation Center.

To view a recording of the September 9 COVID webinar, go to cantoncommunitytv.org.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Sep 17 2021. Filed under News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.