Cape and Islands State Senator and member of the task force Julian Cyr.
HYANNIS – The Cape Cod COVID-19 Response Task Force discussed the recent increase of COVID cases in the Mid-Cape area as well as ongoing efforts by the Cape Cod Vaccine Consortium to vaccinate those newly eligible, including seasonal workers.
Task force member and Cape and Islands State Senator Julian Cyr (D-Truro) said at the weekly meeting on Thursday that they are extremely concerned about the outbreak centralized mostly in the Towns of Barnstable and Yarmouth.
“Those being large population centers for Cape Cod have dragged Barnstable County back into the red in terms of positivity rates, testing and new cases,” said deputy director of Barnstable County’s Human Services Department Vaira Harik.
Over the last two weeks, Barnstable County had over a thousand new positive cases and a positivity rate of 5.6 percent, almost three times as high as the also-increasing statewide average, said Harik.
Cyr said that the outbreak is all the more concerning given the recent detection of the P1 Brazilian Coronavirus variant in Barnstable County.
“It’s very incumbent for all of us on Cape Cod to get this outbreak under control and fast. We are asking residents to assume that these variants are here in our community and that unnecessary large gatherings, travel, or other indoor activities all contribute to the spread of Coronavirus,” said Cyr.
He said that he hopes to see residents abide by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state public safety guidelines in order to avoid a surge of COVID-19 cases over the summer season.
On the vaccination front, Cyr said he was proud of the consortium’s efforts to vaccinate those most at risk as well as K-12 educators and staff.
He said the next focus will be on the Cape’s essential workers group, which recently became eligible for the vaccine.
The group includes restaurant workers, transit workers, all retail and wholesale workers, grocery store workers, food pantry workers and others.
The full list of those who are eligible can be found on the state’s website.
“We will have some more information on this outreach effort as it becomes available, but we are particularly prioritizing and making sure that this does include seasonal workers in our seasonal economy. They are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccination and we are urging them to get vaccinated,” said Cyr.
Cape Cod National Seashore Superintendent Brian Carlstrom said that the previous summer was one of the busiest for the national park on record, and that he looks forward to the upcoming season also featuring a large number of residents enjoying safe, outdoor activities and mitigating the spread of the virus.
Deputy director of the Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment Erica Woods said that weekly allotments of COVID vaccine have recently increased to about 3,500 vaccine doses.
The task force stressed the importance of wearing face coverings, maintaining social distancing, practicing good hand hygiene and avoiding large gatherings, especially indoors.
Information on testing can be found by calling the Barnstable County help line at (774) 330-3001 or by visiting the county’s website.
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