COVID-19 cases by state; CDC data as of June 7, 2020. (click to enlarge)

By Alberto Gilman

The Somerville Public Health and Public Safety Committee gathered together Monday night for their weekly virtual meeting.

Ward 6 Councilor Lance Davis called the meeting to order beginning with roll call. All eleven councilors were present.

The meeting consisted of two presentations given by SomerStat Director Kristen Stelljes and Health and Human Services Director Doug Kress updated the Committee on the latest COVID-19 data as it applies to the City of Somerville.

Stelljes conducted her presentation through updates and data collection compiled into four categories: key dates, case trends, food security and public safety data from the fire department.

Beginning with key dates, she updated the Committee on current developments in the city. Entering into June, the city of Somerville and the state of Massachusetts are beginning their reopening procedures.

“On May 28, the city announced a $1.5 million rental assistance support program,” Stelljes said. In her case trends report, Stelljes added a graphic showing that in the U.S. we have reached over 100,000 deaths and 1.76 million cases in the U.S. Massachusetts is currently fifth in the nation ranked by cases. Specifically, the total number of cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The city of Chelsea currently has the highest number of cases, followed by Brockton, Lawrence and Lynn. The city of Somerville is below the state total according to Stelljes.

According to Stelljes, 27 fatalities in Somerville are reported due to the virus but the case numbers are going down.

Recent protests over the death of George Floyd brought out large crowds of residents, which will now be factored in data collection.

“We’ll then be looking again the next week to see if there are any increases that are happening as a result of the recent protests” Stelljes said.

Senior citizens have been tested in higher numbers which has resulted in higher case numbers in both the city and state.

On food security data, Stelljes reported the distribution of 4,354 from school meal sites and pickup numbers were lower over the course of last week. 605 households were also provided meals last week from the Emergency Food Pantry. Lower numbers of demand may indicate residents are going back to other sources of food.

COVID-19 related calls are also being reported to have gone down in recent days.

At the conclusion of Stelljes presentation, Director Kress updated the Committee on his efforts at reopening the community, maintaining open spaces and other types of testing that need to be done.

Kress highlighted the Metro East Medical Reserve Core volunteers, 45 from the City of Somerville, and other medical personnel. 314 hours of volunteer service from public health students and alumni contributed to the ongoing efforts. They are working with testing, taking calls, and helping out whoever they can.

The reopening procedures for the state of Massachusetts are currently underway.