Numbers will rise as virus testing grows weekly
By JOSH RESNEK
With week six of the Coronavirus shutdown underway, confirmed cases have risen and so too have deaths.
The city is reporting officially 15 deaths caused by the virus and 862 infected.
As more are tested from week-to-week, the numbers of infected will rise, although it is the percentage of infected that apparently makes the difference about understanding the virus and controlling it where and when it breaks out.
In other words, as more and more people are tested, the numbers of those infected will rise as part of a natural progression.
Epidemiologists believe that as many as 10,000 Everett residents are infected and don’t know it or aren’t showing signs of it.
The city lockdown remains in force.
A curfew remains in place.
Residents are required to wear face masks or coverings when out in public.
There are no locations in the city for residents to buy face masks, neither is the city providing them.
There has been no enforcement of this provision locally.
In neighboring Somerville, it was reported Tuesday that police there will be fining those without face masks walking around in public $300.
Testing is another question mark.
Only those showing symptoms of the virus are being tested – and they can only be tested at the Cambridge Alliance Hospital, the former Whidden Hospital before being admitted or in Chelsea at the MGH facility there.
The vast majority of the Everett population is not being tested and has not been tested and there are no local facilities to do so.
Testing in Chelsea has been upped as that neighboring city has more than 2,000 infected and more than 45 deaths.
It is the general belief of epidemiologists that the greatest failure of the Federal government to act, is refusing to open nationwide testing facilities and to test as many people as possible for the virus.
There has been talk among officials in Washington that Walmart may soon set up testing centers in its parking lots all over the nation.
Yet many states are attempting to partially re-open their economies despite the continuing surge in deaths and cases.
The jury is out on whether or not that policy is sound.
In Boston, Mayor Marty Walsh has announced the shutdown will continue after the May 4 date earlier set.
It is believed the same will happen here and that the mayor will shortly be extending the shutdown order.
In the meantime, the city’s economic engine remains shut down for the safety of the people; a reasonable and measured response to the death and havoc caused by the virus in cities where density is so high.
Free food options for residents have expanded with a number of food outlets operating daily to supplement peoples’ needs for provisions to sustain their families while they are out of work.
Unemployment locally is believed to be high.
It is not known how many Everett residents have applied for unemployment, however the number is believed to be several thousand and rising.