By Eileen Qiu

Covid cases are expected to rise in the city as the holiday season nears, Director of Health and Human Services, Doug Kress, said during last Thursday’s Board of Health Meeting.

There were 210 new cases in November at the time of the meeting, but the number is expected to rise to about 300, Kress said.

In total, there are around 7,500 cases in the city, with 500 of those as positive probable cases, according to the most recent data on the COVID-19 dashboard, updated every Tuesday.

Kress said an uptick was expected as people make travel plans, but the good news is that over 75% of the city is now fully vaccinated.

“Moving forward we continue to improve in making sure our individuals and our residents to follow guidelines,” he said.

The state has announced it’s going to keep the Stop the Spread locations open through March 2021, but contact tracing will be suspended, Kress said.

However, the Board of Health will expand its work team to cover new cases in preparation and continue the work contact tracing in Somerville. The team is also in the process of gathering data regarding the percentage of residents in the city who may have a booster shot, he said.

Kids over 5 are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine as well.

Masks are still required in public indoor spaces – and will be required until the number of positive cases decrease, vaccinations continue to persist and overall people are at less risk of catching the virus, Kress said.

“We really do want to slow the spread of the virus itself,” Kress said. “One way to do that is not to get infected, so a mask is an excellent way to protect you, your family and our community members.”

As a father, Boar Chairman Dr. Brian Green said he understood how difficult it could be for children to wear masks since they aren’t all that responsive to regulations, but masks are the best form of protection, since younger kids can’t get vaccinated.

“As soon as we feel like rates are going down, and vaccinations are persisting, and people are at a lower risk of contracting the disease, then mask mandate can be lifted,” Kress said.

In addition to COVID-19 updates, the board also revised regulation for businesses that sell tobacco products.

So far, there are 78 businesses in the city that are licensed to sell tobacco products, Director of the Six City Tobacco Initiative, Bonny Carroll said.

The board decided concreate repercussions for businesses that may violate the regulation.

A first offense will result in a fine of $300. A second violation, occurring within 3 years of the first one will result in the same fine and having the business license suspended for 7 business days. Three of more violations within three years will result in the fine and having the business license suspended for 30 business days. Repeated violations could result in revoking the sales permit. 

The next meeting date was scheduled for December 16 has been moved to December 21, Kress said.