The medical mecca of the universe has fallen behind other states in getting people vaccinated. Why, New Mexico has an online system that lets eligible people register for an appointment. Here? Local health officials are still sending data on paper.
Separately, the Globe notes the paucity of vaccination sites in heavily hit minority communities in Suffolk County.
NPR reports doctors are looking at why and have several possible explanations: Less exposure to other infectious diseases - due to isolation and better hygiene - better adherence to medical advice on inhalers and less air pollution.
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Pediatric Emergency Department Utilization for Asthma - the report by Children's Hospital.
Thrice-weekly samples taken at the MWRA's Deer Island sewage-treatment plant are showing a spike in Covid-19 RNA, which follows increases in Covid-19 rates in Massachusetts and Boston and could signal further increases as the people excreting the RNA spread their virus to people they come into contact with. Read more.
Arlington officials say a raccoon they believe bit and scratched a young child on Fountain Road Wednesday afternoon has tested positive for rabies. Read more.
The state Department of Public Health has added Pennsylvania, Delaware, Colorado and West Virginia to the list of states from which people - including returning Bay Staters - no longer have to quarantine for 14 days or show proof of a recent negative Covid-19 test when they arrive here, because they all now have positive Covid-19 test rates under 5% and low total daily numbers.
They join all of New England - except for Rhode Island - New York and New Jersey.
An analysis of the genetic makeup of Covid-19 samples from the early days of the pandemic in Massachusetts suggests a two-day conference at the Marriott Long Wharf provided the spark that set off a Covid-19 conflagration in a state not yet fully prepared to deal with it. Read more.
Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency-room physician at Brigham and Women's with a penchant for health policy, reported yesterday that state stats show that for the third week in a row, Boston has not had any of the "excess" deaths that started climbing as Covid-19 erupted here earlier this year. Read more.
Mayor Walsh today declared racism a public-health crisis in Boston and announced he is shifting $3 million from the Boston Police overtime fund to public-health efforts - and that he will also the City Council to approve another $9 million shift from police overtime to efforts aimed at ending racial disparities in Boston. Read more.
Staffers at Boston Hope, the 1,000-bed field hospital set up in a week in April to handle a surge of Covid-19 patients, cheered and clapped yesterday as the hospital's last three patients were discharged. Being Boston, of course, they also sang "Sweet Caroline" for one. Read more.
Brookline officials announced today that the town will select 400 random residents to test for antibodies to Covid-19, to help gauge just how far the virus has spread through the town. Read more.
Gov. Baker announced today that a non-profit group working with the state is hiring 1,000 "contact tracers" to interview Covid-19 patients and find out all the people they may have come in contact with to follow them and get them testing and care if needed. Read more.
Over the weekend, BPS custodians and Tufts Medical Center staffers converted the Quincy Elementary School cafeteria, just down Washington Sstreet from the hospital, into a clinic for screening people with Covid-19 symptoms. Read more.
Mayor Walsh today ordered all construction companies to secure their sites and stop all work by Monday for at least two weeks and said both city libraries and community centers will be shut - libraries tonight, community centers on Wednesday - to try to reduce the spread of Covid-19. Read more.
Ed note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said Brookline had set a 5 p.m. curfew on restaurants, because ye ed can't read.
Brookline officials today banned lines of more than 10 people at restaurants and bars - but has lifted its ban on styrofoam containers, to help restaurants speed up preparation of takeout and delivery orders - as part of a town declaration of a state of emergency due to Covid-19. Read more.
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