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Date: 3/8/2022
AMHERST – The town of Amherst received a public health update from Health Director Jennifer Brown and Town Manager Paul Bockelman that shed light on the status of the town’s case numbers and vaccination rates.
In the update they note that the town has managed the pandemic “remarkably” well since its first case in March 2020. Vaccination has still been the town’s most valuable tool against the virus according to the update and the town’s vaccination rate has been calculated to be 88 percent fully vaccinated. This high number is not only credited to the diligence of the residents in town in getting the vaccine but also in part thanks to University of Massachusetts Amherst’s student vaccination rate of 97.8 percent and Amherst College’s 99 percent rate.
The update noted that while some tools of preventing the spread have been discovered to be ineffective, practices such as social distancing, testing, wearing good quality masks, and ventilation have been effective in combating the spread of COVID-19. While the effort has been there, the town is still seeing a slight rise in case counts while the rest of the county has seen a decline.
“Now, as we see the Hampshire County and state data dramatically subsiding, our numbers have taken an upward bump. With the large concentration of college students, and the comprehensive testing requirements at the colleges and university, Amherst is unique in the number of town residents who are being tested on a regular basis,” the update writes. “As expected, this extensive testing reveals mild or asymptomatic cases that otherwise might not be reported.”
According to the update, Amherst’s recent increase and previous numbers since early February have consistently shown that approximately 84 percent of the cases fall in the 17- to 22-year-old age group, and 2 to 5 percent are in the 23-27-year-old age group. Contact tracers report that transmission has reflected the social activities of these age groups, such as clubs, sports and small gatherings.
“The transmission has been mainly through clusters at normal social activities. These activities will continue but there may be changes in other areas that reduce transmission,” said Brown. “For example, with warmer weather windows are open and ventilation is improved. People and activities are more outside, and transmission is dramatically reduced.”
These types of groupings suggest lower community spread and more behavior related spread as according to the update the numbers in other age groups have been less than 1.2 percent and has not wavered. Brown added that testing is one of the most important mitigation strategies used but if the testing model changed, it would affect the numbers.
While Brown was not suggesting the testing model should change, she added that they will continue assessing and interpreting the data for Amherst in the days to come.
“We examine Amherst and surrounding communities’ statistics and guidance, and of course follow Massachusetts Department of Public Health guidelines. Cases and indicators are trending down around us,” Brown said.
Amherst has an increase in cases, but the numbers are starting to recede, and transmission and tracing has been effectively used to identify the age group most commonly testing positive. According to Brown this is a welcomed direction for the town moving forward.
Bockelman and Brown wrote that while also being aligned with the state Department of Public Health that they also look to state-level public health experts who draw knowledge from, and base policy on, scientific consensus.
“We, as a town, balance their guidance with our unique community situation,” they said.
On March 10, the Amherst Board of Health will meet to interpret the most recent COVID-19 statistics. The town updates its public COVID-19 dashboard, which can be found at www.amherstcovid19.org, on a daily basis.