COVID jumping dangerously

AUGUST 23: Nancy Pernia has a COVID-19 test administered by Marco Sanabria of Cataldo Ambulance at Rivergreen Park. (Photo by Jim Mahoney)

City holds its breath as new cases mount

By JOSH RESNEK

Testing and vaccinations continue in Everett while at the same time new cases of the COVID and the more deadly variant are popping up in increasing numbers.

Everett city government has not proposed plans to deal with this new onslaught of the virus that wreaked havoc all last year causing thousands to get sick and hundreds to die.

At the state level, the governor and state health officials remain confident that a return to yesterday will not be occurring here.

However, the resurgence of the virus and the variant are now running amok, especially in those states where much of the population believes the virus, the sickness it causes, and deaths are a government plot.

The largest number of new cases everywhere is coming from the parts of the population that have refused to be vaccinated.

Refusing vaccination for those with pre-existing medical conditions and now for school-age youth, can be a death sentence.

Many supporters of former President Donald Trump believe masks are useless and that the vaccines are loaded with mind-controlling or lethal ingredients.

The facemasks controversy has been the cause for the widespread of the virus.

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Delta COVID strain surges, waiting for city hall mandates

By JOSH RESNEK

At the beginning of the summer, there was the wide- spread belief held among many of us that the virus had passed us by, that restrictions on our lives were at an end, and that the new normal was taking over.

(Photo by Jim Mahoney)

Massachusetts residents flocked to get vaccinated, virus numbers dipped, hospitalizations dropped, deaths came to a nearly total end.

That was then, this is now.

“We have underestimated this virus and celebrated prematurely,” said Ali Mokdad, a professor who has projected COVID cases, hospitalizations, and deaths throughout the pandemic at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

The harsh predictions of another rising wave of the virus among the Massachusetts population come as the state and the nation grapple with whether to adopt new restrictions in hopes of slowing COVID’s renewed spread.

Last week, Governor Charlie Baker enacted one of the nation’s strictest vaccination requirements for state employees, while Acting Mayor Kim Janey on Friday announced a mask mandate for indoor public places in Boston, a measure that takes effect at 8 a.m. on Aug. 27 as the city continues to battle the virus.

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Get vaccinated or get sick

Unbelievably enough, enough, getting vaccinated or not get- ting vaccinated is a very simple matrix.

Those who get vaccinated or not getting vaccinated run almost no risk of catching the virus, of being hospitalized, of getting very sick and dying.

The need for everyone to be vaccinated is absolutely necessary to reduce the risk of the virus maintaining its foothold in our lives and our economic and health and well-being.

Two days ago, while speaking with a young woman I know who is 24, I asked her how she was feeling.

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COVID lingering like a nightmare; Variant causes new masking concerns

By JOSH RESNEK

The United State recorded almost 100,000 new cases a day of the virus last week.

The numbers in Massachusetts have soared.

The state is expected to release new guidelines this week about masks, health and safety requirements for communities to follow when the doors open in several weeks.

The Everett Public Schools are reopening for full-time, in-person teaching, according to state mandates.

It is believed many personnel and teachers will be wearing masks at least part of the time when school is in session.

Many students may choose to do the same.

In Florida, intensive care pediatric beds are all taken, and this time, with children requiring emergency intensive care by the hundreds across the state.

Children all over the nation have not been vaccinated.

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Delta virus cases rising

EHD quiet about COVID uptick

By JOSH RESNEK

Residents here have heard the news about an uptick in new cases of the Coronavirus, but no hard stats are available right now from the Everett Health Department.

Last week and into the beginning of this week, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health confirmed 586 new cases of virus across the state.

Vaccinations here and across the state have been continuing.

Anti-vaccine fans locally need to be aware that the highest number of new cases by a wide margin are occurring in the 20- 29 and the 30-39 age brackets and the assumption is the vast majority of those coming down with the virus or the variant have not been vaccinated.

Across the state, there were 114 patients hospitalized for COVID – 19.

Twenty-nine patients are in intensive care units with 12w of that number on respirators in order to stay alive.

In Middlesex County (Everett is in Middlesex County) during the past 14 days, there have been 526 new cases with more than 90,000 residents tested for the virus.

More new cases were reported in Middlesex County than in all other counties in the state.

In addition, cases were up in every county in the state during the past two weeks, a disturbing trend that could have implications.

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