STOP THE SPREAD TESTING SITES EXTENDED TESTING THROUGH DEC. 31ST
Holyoke Stop the Spread Testing sites will be closed on Thursday Nov. 26th for the Thanksgiving holiday. The HCC site will be open during its regularly scheduled time on Wednesday the 25th and Friday 27th. The walk-up Appleton site will be closed on Wednesday November 25th.
WALK UP COVID-19 Testing Site in Holyoke
A walk-up COVID testing site opened in Holyoke at 323 Appleton St. Testing hours are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 2pm to 6pm. Testing will run until 12/31/20.
DRIVE UP COVID-19 Testing Site in Holyoke
A Stop the Spread test has opened at Holyoke Community College. Testing will run until 12/31/20.
The location of testing at Holyoke Community College has changed.
A map with the new traffic pattern and testing site location is posted on the Holyoke Board of Health website.
The testing will remain at HCC, but now take place at Lot H.
The test site will still be drive-through.
Hours and days of operation will not change.
Holyoke Community College will have parking attendants onsite to manage the flow of traffic.
– The site will operate Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday 7am – 11am. Tuesday and Thursday 2pm -7pm.
– Turnaround time for results is typically 4 days or fewer.
– This test site is first come, first serve. There are no appointments. Please do not call the Health Department or Holyoke Community College to make an appointment.
– The test site at Holyoke Community College is a drive-through only test site. Please do not get out of your vehicle. Signage and Campus Police will be readily apparent to help you access the site easily.
– To help speed up the process, please have your information ready. They will ask for your full name, address (you must be a Massachusetts resident), phone number and email address.
– There is no cost for the testing. You do not need a referral, nor do you need to be symptomatic.
– The test style will be the less invasive swab in the lower nostril. The older style that required further insertion of the swab will not be used.
– If you have previously tested positive, DPH and CDC guidelines do not recommend getting retested at this time.
– If you are acutely symptomatic, particularly if you have a high fever, consider scheduling a test with your Primary Care Physician.
– Information on all of the Stop the Spread test sites across the State can be found at: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/stop-the-spread
MA COVID19 Alert: Holiday gatherings increase the risk of COVID19 spread
The COVID-19 Command Center will send out a message via the Everbridge Resident Connection Alerts MA System reminding residents of the serious risk that COVID-19 poses to the Commonwealth. This is the second message to be sent to residents using the Everbridge alert system. These alerts will appear as a phone call or text message. This alert will reach approximately 4.5 million phone lines, including cell and landlines.
The message will go out at 5 p.m. from Department of Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel, MD, MPH and will be sent in English and Spanish.
Residents can choose to receive future messages by text, email, or phone in their preferred language by opting in at mass.gov/covidalerts.
Thursday’s message will remind residents of the serious risk of COVID-19 spread over the Thanksgiving Holiday due to large family gatherings. The message will also inform residents that travel is discouraged and celebrating Thanksgiving with only immediate household members is the best way to protect themselves, their families and their communities. This message builds on the Command Center and the COVID-19 Enforcement Intervention Team’s (CEIT) efforts to ensure residents remain vigilant with COVID protections, particularly as the holiday season draws near. The Department of Public Health has put out tips for observing a safe Thanksgiving, which are available at mass.gov/Thanksgiving2020. Read the full story and get guidance here: https://www.wwlp.com/news/health/coronavirus-local-impact/ma-covid19-alert-holiday-gatherings-increase-the-risk-of-covid19-spread/
Massachusetts health officials add Maine, New Hampshire added to list of high-risk states for travel; only Vermont and Hawaii considered low-risk
By Melissa Hanson | mhanson@masslive.com
As of this weekend, travelers heading to Massachusetts are only exempt from quarantine or testing requirements if they are coming from two states: Vermont or Hawaii.
As of Saturday, anyone arriving in the Bay State from Maine and New Hampshire must produce a negative coronavirus test or quarantine for 14 days.
Gov. Charlie Baker enacted a travel order on Aug. 1 mandating all visitors and residents entering Massachusetts from a high-risk area to quarantine for 14 days or produce a negative COVID-19 test result that has been administered up to 72 hours prior to arrival in Massachusetts.
Anyone who does not quarantine or test negative is subject to a $500 fine per day.
Exemptions are allowed for travelers from lower-risk states, people commuting for work or school and patients seeking specialized medical care.
The Department of Public Health metric for determining lower-risk states considers data over two weeks before moving a state from lower risk to high risk. One week of data is the standard for moving states into the lower risk category.
States are included on the “lower-risk” list based on meeting two criteria: having average daily cases per 100,000 people below 10 and a positive test rate below 5%, both measured as a 7-day rolling average. Read the full story here: https://www.masslive.com/coronavirus/2020/11/massachusetts-health-officials-add-maine-new-hampshire-added-to-list-of-high-risk-states-for-travel-only-vermont-and-hawaii-considered-low-risk.html
CDC removes guidance pushing for school reopenings amid COVID pandemic saying ’new scientific information has emerged’
By Heather Morrison | hmorrison@masslive.com
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has removed guidelines from its website that promoted in-person learning for schools.
The documents, which were written by political appointees outside of the CDC, were removed from the website in late October without a public announcement, the Hill reported.
“Some of the prior content was outdated and as new scientific information has emerged the site has been updated to reflect current knowledge about COVID-19 and schools,” a spokesperson told the Hill.
Instead, the website now states that “the body of evidence is growing that children of all ages are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection and contrary to early reports might play a role in transmission.”
It also lists in-person learning as a high risk. Read the full story here: https://www.masslive.com/coronavirus/2020/11/cdc-removes-guidance-pushing-for-school-reopenings-amid-covid-pandemic-saying-new-scientific-information-has-emerged.html
As of today there are1923 positive COVID cases in Holyoke ~1% increase.
Weekly Public Health Report (Updated Wednesday) Contains town-by-town numbers, long-term care facility information, and more: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-response-reporting#covid-19-weekly-public-health-report-
Massachusetts comprehensive daily “dashboard” illustrating the spread of this virus across regions and demographics: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-response-reporting#covid-19-daily-dashboard-
Testing has a turnaround time of 1-5 days and many cases are being clinically diagnosed (no testing or reporting involved). All are advised to behave as though they are carriers of Covid-19.
The curve we need to flatten: County numbers graphed over time can be found here: https://www.wmasscovid.com/
The Massachusetts Daily Dashboard is now updated to provide a more granular look into the daily positivity rates. Due to technical difficulties the state did not publish the statistics for today, 11-25-20. As of yesterday, there were 40,449 active cases in MA with 2,225 new cases. There were 20 new deaths today with an average age of 81 years old. The age range with the highest number of current positive cases is 20-29 year olds, followed by 0-19 year olds, followed by 30-39 year olds. All together the state has a 7-day average positivity rate of 3.02%.