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Walsh: Sound trucks to broadcast coronavirus messages in high-rate neighborhods; Marathon runners thinking of running Monday should think again

COVID-19 Media Availability 4/17/20

Mayor Walsh said the city will send out seven sound trucks through East Boston, Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan and Hyde Park this weekend, urging people to stay home, wash their hands and the like - and to call 311 if they need food or help.

The trucks will broadcast the messages in several languages in the neighborhood, which have higher Covid-19 rates than other Boston neighborhoods, and will be coupled with posters to be put up, he said at a City Hall press conference.

Walsh had a specific message for people still thinking of running the Marathon route on Monday: Don't. "Marathon runners are all champions," but if you try to run the Marathon route on Monday, "you're not a champion," he said. "It's not a great accomplishment, you're not going to be celebrated for it, nobody's going to be clapping for you. ... We won't be celebrating you in Boston."

Walsh said that to date, Boston has delivered 400,000 meals to people who need them, including through BPS student sites, food pantries and meals on wheels. "We are not willing to let any single person go hungry because of this crisis."

He said the city is helping to launch a program to match teen volunteers with seniors who need help getting groceries or even just a friendly phone call.

He said the East Boston testing site that had been for first responders now open to all East Boston residents with symptoms or contact with Covid-19 patients. City will post map by Monday of all testing sites in city.

Will school be cancelled for rest of the year? Decision is up to governor, will talk to him today, expects decision to come in next few days, he said, adding it's a little too early to tell about summer school.

Health and Human Services Chief Marty Martinez said that, so far, Boston hospitals are managing the surge of patients. The field hospital at the South Boston convention center now has a little more than 100 patients.

Walsh noted we could get snow overnight - which would make it the latest snowfall in 20 years. "It's fun to talk about the snow!" he said.


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Comments

Someone will post a 311 complaint about the annoying noise pollution going up and down the street?

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... they aren’t sending the truck to Back Bay, Beacon Hill or the South End. (Even though the South End has high numbers too).

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South End's high rates are due to the 100% testing done at the Pine Street Inn a couple weeks back. Presumably, the city doesn't need to drive a sound truck into its building to get messages across.

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.. out and about in the South End. It’s their home too. Villa Vittoria is smack in the middle of the South End has a large Latino population. Lots of black people still live in the South End, despite gentrification.
But lots of people who object to noise live there too.

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It's been real quiet around here, except for the cars speeding faster than usual, some random fireworks and gun shots, and buzzing helicopters the day that poor girl was murdered on Topliff St.
Come to think of it, it hasn't been quiet at all.

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Guaranteed in East Boston my neighbors will as they love to complain about noise constantly. They even complain about the ice cream truck in the summer!

Well, maybe you should not have moved next to the airport in the first place...

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Ice cream truck "music" is really friggin annoying.

NYC got so many complaints that they passed a law. The music can only play while the truck is moving. When it's parked in front of the playground across the street from your house, it can only ring a bell.

I think this is a great law.

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So, HP is a neighborhood that first got the Easter Bunny on a truck tooling around, waving paws, accepting applause. That's cartoon resurrection. Now will come melodramatic portent of disease or death. I could learn quickly to dislike noisy trucks.

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What is it about these people who would insist on, or even thought about, running the Marathon route during all this? What is so all-fired important about it? There is some cosmic significance that people invest in that thing (even before the tragic bombing) that I just don't get.

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quel langue est-il ?

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Not sure why we weren't doing this from day one, think everyone would have taken it more seriously sooner with the government literally yelling it.

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At least in Allston, none of them wear masks. They jog on the sidewalks and heavy breath on one and all without a care in the world.

I suppose asking them to curb their preppie/yuppie entitlement is a pointless exercise. But damn it, you're not the only people in the area who matter.

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You have a point. But Allston does not have a lot of green space. Streets need to be shut down for pedestrians only so people can safely walk and jog without getting close to each other. People are more important than cars.

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I'm in Allston, and I would say 50+% of the runners that I've seen are wearing a face covering of some sort.

Also, since when are Allston residents considered preppies or yuppies? Sure, their numbers are growing here with the new "luxury" housing that's been going up, but certainly not the majority or even close to it.

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Hmm, so when I was a jogger, my breathing was largely straight ahead and slightly down in front of me. I guess a strong wind would impact that, but I was hardly "breathing on one and all". And recently I've seen everyone possible (walkers, joggers, baby-carriage pushers, etc) giving wider-then-normal spacing, so even if people can't move to the streets in every neighborhood, I've definitely seen joggers, walkers, and most everyone else giving much more space than we normally would.

And another poster noted that 50% are wearing masks, so certainly not 'none'. Let's simmer down a bit, eh?

At least in Allston, none of them wear masks. They jog on the sidewalks and heavy breath on one and all without a care in the world.

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Just a heads-up that there will be no parking in downtown Hopkinton on Monday

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