The Board of Health plans to review local Covid-19 data and see whether they can be linked to the local indoor mask requirement when it meets virtually on Tuesday beginning at noon.
Chair Anita Raj said Monday that the main purpose of the meeting is to assess the impact of the mandate, which went into effect on Aug. 27. “We promised to review the mask mandate frequently,” she said.
Heidi Porter, director of Health and Human Services, “will let us know what she is hearing from the community,” Raj said. She noted that residents’ feedback is also shared by the health office with board members.
The Covid-19 dashboard on the town website will provide the board with plenty of data to evaluate, including:
- Forty-four new Covid cases during the two-week period Aug. 21-Sept. 3. Of the new cases, 33 are infecting residents younger than age 40.
- The positivity rate for testing on Sept. 3 of 2.93, higher than the state (2.74) and the county (1.9).
- Encouraging vaccination statistics. Every age cohort in the town has reached at least 70 percent in Covid vaccination. The highest percentages are ages 16-19, close to 90 percent, followed by ages 12-15, around 85 percent.Mike Rosenberg can be reached at [email protected], or 781-983-1763
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While I appreciate the vigilance of our BOH, I would like to point out that with a population of just over 14,000, Bedford’s population is too small to make a statistically relevant analysis of Covid Transmission. Like most respiratory infections, the majority of transmission is going to occur within groups in close contacts- ergo households. That transmission could not occur if the infection were not being contracted by a member of the household for where out in the community. With the amount of movement we all engage in- shopping, work, socializing- identifying the source accurately is very difficult, and often impossible. While numerous population studies support masking as a means of reducing transmission, the recent double blind study in Bangladesh shows clearly that masking is very effective in reducing Covid transmission. https://www.poverty-action.org/publication/impact-community-masking-covid-19-cluster-randomized-trial-bangladesh
I hope the Board will continue to give its attention to this issue, and remain focused on the public health- using the tools we have to prevent transmission and allow schools and business to remain operational.