The Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported an additional 5,396 confirmed COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the statewide total to 413,329 since the start of the pandemic. State health officials also added 77 new confirmed COVID-19-related deaths to the state's total, which is now 12,875. Sign up for our Newsletters An estimated 90,567 cases are active across Massachusetts, according to the report. That is the highest total since.
Needham youth speak at The 84 Movement Youth Power Summit
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Recently, local youth from Needham’s chapter of The 84 Movement, Students Advocating Life without Substance Abuse, presented a workshop at The 84 Movement’s virtual Youth Power Summit on the need for better education, resources, programs and policies around vaping, including support for youth in making vape quit attempts.
The group talked about their initiatives at Needham High School and strategies for developing similar programs. The 84 Movement is a youth-led movement focused on making a tobacco-free generation in Massachusetts. It is funded by the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program, a program of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
The COVID-19 pandemic has dominated the news since last spring, pushing aside America s other epidemic the opioid epidemic which has only gotten worse in the intervening months.
People who work on the front lines of the opioid epidemic on Cape Cod say isolation caused by COVID-19 lockdowns and social distancing protocols that limit access to 12-step and other meetings are part of what s driving the increase.
Susan Kinnane of Eastham lost their son Danny Vigliano to an overdose in August. The 35-year-old, whose struggle she said was made worse by the isolation, died alone on the floor of a Brockton MBTA station. Toxicology reports showed ethanol and fentanyl in his system.
COVIDACTNOW.ORG
BERKSHIRE TOWNS IN RED ZONE: The following Berkshire communities are now listed as red in the state s COVID-19 chart, the category signaling a concerning presence of the virus, as adjusted for community size. After community name, the figures reflect the number of new cases in the last 14 days out of a stated number of tests:
Adams (29 cases of 739 tests); Cheshire 34 of 340; Great Barrington (30 of 1,325); Lee (74 of 745).
The following communities were ranked yellow, one category below red: Lanesborough (18 cases of 317 tests); Lenox (21 of 901); North Adams (62 or 1,344); Pittsfield (290 of 6,238); Williamstown (26 of 1,413).
Note: Pittsfield s own website listed the city in the red category on Friday. City officials have immediate access to case data.