The Town of Saugus has joined the effort to “Stop the Spread.”
Town Manager Scott Crabtree announced Tuesday that the Board of Health and the Health Department has opened two free COVID-19 testing sites in the community as part of a partnership with the state’s “Stop the Spread” initiative.
The effort has been undertaken to help mitigate the spread of the virus in high risk-communities, of which Saugus is one, and make the safety of their residents a high priority.
Last week, Saugus joined other North Shore cities and towns, including Lynn, Revere and Salem, in being designated a “red” community. Red is the color code, under Gov. Charlie Baker’s recently-released new metric, for the communities at highest risk for COVID, because they have had more than eight positive tests out of 100,000.
The Town is partnering with the Commonwealth, AFC Urgent Care, Fallon Emergency Medical Services (EMS), and the Square One Mall as a collaborative effort to work to downgrade that status.
One of the sites is AFC Urgent Care, 371 Broadway, which currently offers free testing by appointment on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. One can register online at afcurgentcaresaugus.com. Call (781) 233-1000 for more information.
The other is Fallon EMS at the Square One Mall (far side parking lot on Essex Street), 1201 Broadway with entry off of Essex Street. Free testing is offered at a mobile drive-up for Saugus residents in their cars, Monday through Saturday from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.
The site was scheduled to open Wednesday, at 2 p.m. No appointment is needed. Residents can drive up and register by using a tablet when they arrive. Saugus Police will assist with traffic. The testing site will be staffed by 10-12 individuals to handle registrations.
All samples go directly to the Broad Institution in Cambridge for immediate testing with a 24-36-hour turnaround time. Notification of results will be made for negative results via emails while phone calls will be made for positive COVID-19 results.
This information will be on the Town’s website and on the state’s website: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/stop-the-spread?rgja#saugus-
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health has notified the town of 639 confirmed cases of COVID-19 within the community. According to the Saugus Health Department, this includes 40 deaths in Saugus.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to those families affected by this global pandemic,” Crabtree said.
Massachusetts health officials say that as of this past Monday, 27 more people have died in the state from the virus, bringing the state total deaths from the virus to 8,717.
In addition, there were 571 newly-reported cases. Since mid-March, 116,421 cases in total have been confirmed, while 1,581,978 people have been tested for the virus.
The town and the state will continue to analyze the data from the past couple of weeks and continue to develop specific strategies to combat the spread through additional enforcement and intervention measures, Crabtree said.
“We need to do whatever is necessary to keep ourselves, family, neighbors, and communities safe,” he said. “Please continue to wear your masks, wash hands, avoid gatherings, and continue to follow (all) guidelines.”
The Saugus Health Department strongly believes that additional unrecognized cases exist in Saugus. Due to the fact that they are undetected, some of these infected individuals may not be properly isolated or quarantined, which is why Baker’s directive is to wear a cloth-face mask when around others, practice social distancing, avoid gatherings, and follow all health directives is so important, Crabtree said.
