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Date: 11/3/2021
SOUTHAMPTON – The Southampton Select Board reviewed the city’s current COVID-19 statistics during their meeting on Oct. 26.
“The numbers in Massachusetts and here in Hampshire County are, shall we say, subsiding slowly,” said Town Administrator Edward Gibson. “The number of breakthrough positives seems to be declining and shifting over to a higher percentage of unvaccinated individuals.”
According to mass.gov, as of Oct. 28, the rate of cases in Hampshire County is up 0.7 percent at 11,626 confirmed cases. The death toll has stayed stagnant at 318 as of last week. Statewide, Massachusetts saw an increase of 1,274 confirmed cases bring the total to 791,705.
Holidays have the potential to lead to an increase in cases, something that concerns some residents, Gibson noted.
“I think everyone’s just a little bit nervous about Thanksgiving and after the religious holidays the numbers will start creeping up again much like they did after the Fourth of July,” he said.
The Select Board also discussed a recent article regarding student testing requirements. Select Board member Joy Piper said, “I read an article that said Massachusetts schools cannot require students to provide [a] negative COVID test when coming back from vacation.” Member Jon Lumbra read the same article, stating, “The only time we’ve required it [a negative test] before is when they were a confirmed close contact.”
Gibson mentioned the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s current stance on the matter, noting, “DESE has made it clear that no communities, legally, shall require students to be vaccinated as part of enrollment to the school. However, the schools can make the vaccinations a requirement for extracurricular activities to participate in such as sports.”
For more information regarding Southampton’s Covid-19 policies, residents can visit their website at https://townofsouthampton.org/.