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FRAMINGHAM The sound of laughter and the clatter of poker chips on a table reverberated through Framingham’s Columbus Club. Members fewer than any year in recent memory had gathered on the final day of 2020 to close out a dismally historic year at one of the city’s most historic meeting places. Though there was joy in the room that afternoon, there was also a sobering uncertainty in the air that would carry into the new year. Columbus Club President Louis Bruno reflected on that uncertainty as he looked around the club’s ground floor barroom at the empty tables, which far outnumbered the occupied ones. Seemingly out of habit, he began to count the people who were there, mostly longtime members Bruno called “the tried and true.” ....
MetroWest and Greater Milford, along with the state in general, are coping with an ongoing surge in coronavirus cases. More than 200 of the state’s 351 cities and towns are now at high risk for local spread of COVID-19. In this region, most cities and towns are in the state’s coronavirus red zone, including Framingham, Milford, Marlborough, Hudson, Ashland, Holliston, Southborough, Bellingham, Franklin, Hopedale, Shrewsbury, Wayland, Uxbridge and Millis. Most others are in the yellow zone, including Dover, Sherborn, Hopkinton, Natick, Weston, Mendon, Northborough, Sudbury, Westborough and Medway. Area positivity rates, which signify the percentage of people tested for COVID-19 who got a positive result, range from a low of 2.25% in Weston to a high of 10.44% in Bellingham. For context, the World Health Organization recommends governments maintain a positivity rate of 5% or lower for at least two weeks before reopening. ....
FRAMINGHAM A legend. An innovator. A model. A visionary. A god. The descriptors assigned to Sam Wong by public health leaders throughout the state universally reflect a profound admiration of a man who likely spent his last day as Framingham’s health director this week. The city announced late Tuesday that Wong is taking an indefinite medical leave from his post, one he’s held since 2017. He is unlikely to return. “I’m exhausted,” Wong told the Daily News by phone on Wednesday. “I’m physically, mentally and even sometimes spiritually exhausted. I have given everything I’ve got for the city for the past 10 months and then some, and it has taken a toll on my health and it is to the point where I have to take a step back.” ....
FRAMINGHAM A legend. An innovator. A model. A visionary. A god. The descriptors assigned to Sam Wong by public health leaders throughout the state universally reflect a profound admiration of a man who likely spent his last day as Framingham’s health director this week. The city announced late Tuesday that Wong is taking an indefinite medical leave from his post, one he’s held since 2017. He is unlikely to return. “I’m exhausted,” Wong told the Daily News by phone on Wednesday. “I’m physically, mentally and even sometimes spiritually exhausted. I have given everything I’ve got for the city for the past 10 months and then some, and it has taken a toll on my health and it is to the point where I have to take a step back.” ....
FRAMINGHAM A free walk-up COVID-19 test site in downtown Framingham will close after Wednesday because the city s contract with the testing provider is expiring. The test site, at the South Middlesex Opportunity Council on Bishop Street, was originally operated by the state through Gov. Charlie Baker s Stop The Spread initiative. But Framingham recently took over management of the site after the state closed the Bishop Street location in favor of opening a high-throughput, appointment-only, drive-through test site at 484 Franklin St. The city used CARES Act funding to contract with testing provider Transformative Healthcare to keep the walk-up site running after a brief closure. The site open only to Framingham residents has been especially useful for those who need tests urgently and those who don t have access to a vehicle, the latter of which is required to be tested at the Franklin Street site. ....