Last week, the mayor refused to act in concert with dozens of communities impacted negatively by the COVID-19 virus when the governor asked that communities like Everett intensify the effort to stop crowds from gathering.
Crowds gathering causes transmission. Transmission causes infection. Infection causes illness, hospitalization, and death, not always, but enough to have caused more than 300,000 deaths in the United States since March.
The mayor refused the governor’s request.
He went public in the Boston Herald to make his point.
We believe this was a mistake.
The mayor made the case that transmission is caused by household interactions between people in crowded circumstances more than by larger crowds gathering at the casino or at restaurants and health centers.
In this instance, the mayor reveals he thinks like President Trump about science.
Business, that is, business continuing at the casino is worth the possible cost of sickness that could result from this more than paying attention to the science of the situation.
At present, Everett is one of the state’s top 15 transmission centers for the virus.
The virus is everywhere in the city.
If the mayor paid heed to the governor’s suggestions, the ca-
sino would likely have been forced to close.
We understand the tendency to prefer the casino remaining
open to closing it in favor of being extra careful about possible virus transmission.
What we don’t understand is what the mayor will explain himself, or how he will feel, or what he would say to the family that lost a loved one if someone dies of the virus caught at the casino?
Advocating for the casino is one thing.
Allowing the casino to remain open instead of intensifying efforts to stop the spread of the virus is another.
The mayor needs to make better choices for the safety of the residents.