Everett a reflection of national health disaster
By JOSH RESNEK
On December 4, Everett reported a pandemic high number of 106 new cases of the virus in the city.
The week was a growing disaster of virus cases, with a total coming in at just under 400 new cases.
The city’s rising numbers reflect the national crisis, where numbers are rising unabated – not just with new cases of the virus, but with deaths.
The State Department of Public Health released figures over the weekend revealing 5,536 new cases of the virus last week in Massachusetts.
Forty-one deaths were reported as well.
The seven-day US average was at the 200,000 level of new infections.
That’s the bad news.
The good news is that Massachusetts hospitals while growing more crowded with COVID-19 patients, are not yet being overrun with ICU cases.
Here in Everett, the former Whidden Hospital is running smoothly, without panic or dangerous overload, according to officials from Cambridge Health Alliance.
The hospital is crowded but not overcrowded.
Everett remains in the top ten hot spots in the state. It was designated “a red city” about a month and a half ago and has remained near to the top of the list since it was created.
The broad, nationwide expansion of the virus to nearly every state highlights the continued confusion and indifference to the virus that many people hold.
In many states, millions of Americans are still refusing to wear masks or to socially distance, a sure sign that the virus will not shortly be contained.
Long lines for those wishing to be tested in Everett stretched everywhere over the weekend.
Public officials here believe Everett residents are reacting to the virus with face masks and social distancing.
Almost to a person, the Leader Herald staff has noted that virtually no one out on the streets is roaming around mask less. Add to socially distancing, officials are still awaiting the fall-out from Thanksgiving get-togethers, which CDC officials claim will boost infection figures dramatically in the days and weeks to follow.
Far ore disturbing is the onset of the Christmas season and how get-togethers during the Christmas holiday will cause cases to spike, and dramatically.