COVID-19 News For Western Mass 10-11-21 | WHMP 101 5 / 1240 & 1400 AM whmp.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from whmp.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
ORANGE – The Board of Health voted this week to again require that face coverings be worn inside all businesses in town, citing the area’s recent spike in COVID-19 cases.Board members agreed the surge is the result of variants and community spread,.
My Turn: Next pandemic will we treat the homebound better? AL NORMAN
Published: 6/9/2021 1:13:10 PM
Massachusetts began administering COVID-19 vaccines on Dec. 15, 2020. One hundred four days later, on March 29, Gov. Charles Baker announced the launch of a new “Homebound Vaccine Program.” By that point in time, the commonwealth had already administered 3,409,635 doses of vaccine to the public. The Homebound Program was clearly not as high a priority as reaching patients in nursing facilities, where COVID fatalities were a daily headline. As a result, homebound elderly and disabled people waited three and a half months to get their turn at a shot. Some of these people had as many as three or four home health aides, visiting nurses, or physical therapists, coming into their homes daily any of these workers were potential COVID spreaders. In-home COVID testing was also not widely available.
ORANGE The Selectboard plans to work with the town administrator and police chief to draft clear signs and enforceable rules for Lake Mattawa in response to a thread of social media comments complaining of public drinking, drug use and other issues.
Orange Selectboard opts out of state’s mosquito control plan
AP File Photo AP File Photo
Published: 5/23/2021 4:00:37 PM
ORANGE The Selectboard has voted unanimously to opt out of the state’s aerial mosquito-spraying program, provided that the town devises its own alternative plan.
“This is really a bear to put your arms around, because we don’t have much time. We have to opt out by next Friday,” Town Administrator Gabriele Voelker advised, “and we have to fill out a nine-page plan of what we’re going to do.”
Matthew Fortier, Orange’s health agent, addressed the Selectboard at last week’s meeting and said spraying aims to protect people against mosquito-borne diseases, but pesticides carry with them their own public health risks.