While the state has seen a spike in the number of new COVID-19 cases over the past several weeks, Franklin County has seen more of an “uptick,” but not to where it’s overly concerning health officials quite yet.
“The biggest concern right now isn’t the number of people who have been diagnosed over the past several weeks as we head into colder weather, but how many people they’ve been in contact with when infectious,” Franklin Regional Council of Governments Director of Community Services Phoebe Walker said.
Information from the state about the last two weeks ending Nov. 12 shows that 15 towns throughout Franklin County had zero new COVID-19 cases reported during that time. Another seven towns had five or less new cases reported during that time.
Athol, which lies on the border of Franklin County, reported 18 new cases, placing it in a higher-risk category, and even with 10 new cases reported, Greenfield remains in the low-risk category, as the state calculates the risk factor by population. Montague reported eight new cases over the past two weeks, while Orange reported seven and Sunderland reported six, but they remain in the low-risk category, as well.
“The vast majority of people in Franklin County are doing the right thing,” Walker said. “We have lower numbers — now anyway — than most of the rest of the state. But, we’re definitely seeing more cases than we did over the summer.”
Walker said the bigger issue is the number of contacts the people who are being diagnosed with COVID-19 have had — the average is four to 15, health officials are finding.
“Those are people that someone was in contact with at 6 feet apart for more than 15 minutes,” she said. “We’re doing a lot more contact tracing, and that’s a great concern for us as people start moving indoors and the holidays approach.”
Walker said cities, towns and the state are hiring more contact tracers because of the extra work.
“We’re really concerned and want to help people understand they have to continue to be safe as it gets cold,” she said. “Everyone did such a great job in the spring and took it all very seriously here in Franklin County. It’s important we now go back to that and be resilient and creative about how we connect with each other.”
Walker said people can’t go into others’ houses without masks on, for instance, because it is more clear now to health officials that those who are asymptomatic can transmit just as those with symptoms can. She said FRCOG will continue to provide information about how to stay safe throughout the fall and winter.
She said while the governor has put a mask mandate in place, it will be up to individual towns and cities to decide how to enforce it. She said boards of health will most likely be the enforcers, but will also have the opportunity to ask police departments to help.
“You might see very different reactions and results in different towns,” she said. “We’ll see. But everyone should be wearing a mask in public.”
For more information from the state, visit: bit.ly/3kpy85L.
For more information from the FRCOG, visit: bit.ly/36vRL7b.
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-9591 or afritz@recorder.com.