Updated Jan. 7, 2022
During the first three weeks of December, the state reported 61 cases of COVID-19 in Harvard, a number that is nearly one-fifth of the 312 cases reported in town since the pandemic began. Statewide, hospitalizations and ICU bed occupancy increased each week in December, leaving only 20 available ICU beds in central Massachusetts hospitals on Jan. 4. In response, town officials have reinstated some of the preventive measures taken during previous case surges.
Public meetings and gatherings in all municipal buildings in Harvard have been banned. In addition, starting Jan. 4, Town Hall employees were once again split into two teams, with one half of the staff working in the building and the other half working from home on alternating weeks. Nonschool employees have also received KN95 masks that they must wear unless they are alone in their workspaces.
Town Administrator Tim Bragan told the Press he conferred with Select Board Chair Stu Sklar regarding the new policies, which will be in place until at least Jan. 28. As of now, Bragan said, there is no plan to bar the public from Town Hall, and Library Director Mary Wilson told the Press the same is true for the library. Hildreth House is also open to the public for Council on Aging business, but programs, most of which had returned to the building last summer, have been moved back to Zoom.
At its Dec. 22 meeting, the School Committee voted 3-2 to delay reopening the schools by one day following the holiday break to allow time for testing. Superintendent Linda Dwight told the committee school nurses had asked for drive-up testing on the morning of Jan. 3 so that results would be available when students returned to classes on Tuesday.
Dwight told the Press nurses tested 1,631 people, including students, staff, and their families, as well as nonschool town employees, in a little less than three hours, causing some traffic headaches on Mass. Ave. “We appreciate the high participation numbers as it represents the dedication of the community for the safety of all,” Dwight said.
Of the more than 160 pooled tests, 30 pools tested positive, leading to about 300 follow-up individual rapid tests on the morning of Jan. 4. In addition, every staff member took a state-supplied rapid test before school started that morning. Individual test results revealed 49 positive cases among students— 21 at Hildreth Elementary School and 28 at the Bromfield School. Twenty students were identified as close contacts and 14 staff either tested positive or were identified as close contacts. School nurses communicated with families throughout the day to inform them of positive results or close contact.
Cars line up two across as families wait to get COVID-19 tests before schools reopen after the winter holidays. (Photo by Lisa Aciukewicz)
Dwight said the state issued 30 N95 masks for each school employee over holiday break, and the masks were distributed prior to the start of school on Jan. 4. The mask mandate continues at the schools, and new restrictions were just put into place for school indoor winter sports (see story).
At-home tests have been difficult to find recently, but on Jan. 3, the state announced contracts with three COVID-19 at-home test manufacturers. The contracts will allow towns and educational institutions to order test kits at state-negotiated prices. There is no limit on the number of kits that may be ordered, but minimum purchases are required by some manufacturers. The kits can be paid for with American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
The Board of Health reissued an updated version of its mask advisory on Jan. 4, reminding residents that the board strongly recommends everyone over the age of 2 wear masks in all indoor public places in Harvard, regardless of vaccination status. Masks were mandated in all municipal buildings in August, and that mandate continues.
While the advisory stated it “encourages and supports” any private business that chooses to adopt a mask requirement, the board acknowledged at its Dec. 27 meeting that it does not have the ability to enforce such requirements. Early in the pandemic, when a state of emergency was declared in town, the board empowered Harvard police to enforce public health orders regarding masks, but that power ended when the state of emergency was lifted in June 2021.
Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional detail about the school's test results.
