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Lynn joins Revere and Chelsea in hotel quarantine
By Gayla Cawley | April 18, 2020
LYNN — The City of Lynn is partnering with Chelsea and Revere to offer temporary housing for residents with COVID-19 who live in overcrowded conditions and need a place to safely quarantine.
On Wednesday, Revere Mayor Brian M. Arrigo and Chelsea City Manager Thomas Ambrosino announced a partnership to designate a hotel as a housing option for residents to safely recover from the coronavirus.
Mayor Thomas M. McGee told The Item Friday that the city has joined that collaboration and some rooms at the hotel, Quality Inn in Revere, will be available for Lynn residents.
“I want to thank both Tom Ambrosino and Mayor Arrigo for working with me and my team to help make this option available,” said McGee. “It allows a safe place for those who have tested positive and for those who have been living in crowded situations to isolate themselves so the spread doesn’t happen in their (housing communities).”
Quality Inn has agreed to allow the entire use of the building for infected residents from the now-three cities for the next 60 days. The option became available for Chelsea and Revere residents on Thursday and McGee anticipates Lynn residents who test positive for COVID-19 could begin to be referred by the city’s contact tracing team, which operates out of Thurgood Marshall Middle School, this weekend.
As COVID-19 cases in the city continue to rise, McGee said the city is exploring other temporary housing options that could become available. State officials are opening up other housing facilities for COVID-19 patients to quarantine and UMass Lowell has already been designated for that purpose, he said.
“We’re not sure of what the need will be, how many cases of this will happen,” said McGee. “We’re anticipating the hotel option will initially handle those cases. We’ll be working to identify other options. The question is: how quickly will this need (warrant additional options)?”
Two more deaths from COVID-19 were reported in a 24-hour period from Thursday to Friday and an additional 71 cases were confirmed. A total of 891 Lynn residents have been infected and 21 have died, according to the city’s Public Health Department.
McGee said the city’s partnership on the hotel reflects its continued efforts to work across city lines to address the pandemic. He noted Lynn has already partnered with Beverly and Salem to create a temporary quarantine site for the homeless at the Salem High School fieldhouse, which opened last week.
In addition, McGee said he participated in a call with Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, and the state’s mayors and town managers on Friday, which involved discussion on the state’s efforts to expand widespread testing and contact tracing.
Those multi-city efforts, along with measures Lynn has imposed, such as implementing a curfew and mandating all residents to wear face masks, are aimed at preventing a drastic spike in cases that many other municipalities have seen, McGee said.
With people living so close together in Lynn, McGee said there’s an increased risk of exposure — as of Wednesday, Lynn had the fourth highest number of cases in the state, according to the state Department of Public Health.
McGee said it’s important that residents work together to follow social distancing guidelines to curb the spread and reduce the risk of the city becoming another hot spot for the virus like Chelsea. According to its city website, Chelsea has the highest infection rate in the state, and an even higher rate than New York City.
“I think a number of the different measures that we’ve taken over the past couple of weeks reflect the challenge we’re facing,” said McGee. “It’s important that the community continues to work together and understands that we need to stay home and only go out for essential services.
“The number of deaths continue to grow, which is an ongoing tragic part of the situation going on in Lynn. We need to be vigilant and continue to work together to limit the spread.”
Partners HealthCare will serve as the management team at Quality Inn and provide on-site medical care for up to 150 patients. Residents will qualify for a referral if they are COVID-19 positive, live in a situation where significant challenges are presented for self-quarantining or isolation, and do not require hospitalization.
Seventy-five percent of the costs associated with the Quality Inn’s operation will be covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), with substantial additional support from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). The remainder will be financed by the Cities of Revere, Chelsea and Lynn.
However, McGee noted that the city will be eligible for up to 75 percent reimbursement from the federal coronavirus legislation for its portion of the hotel funding, along with other measures taken, such as the homeless quarantine center in Salem.
Although McGee anticipates that as COVID-19 cases continue to rise, other housing measures may be needed for those in need of a safe place to quarantine, he said partnering with Revere and Chelsea was a good first step. Overall, he said the collaboration with other city leaders throughout the crisis has been “amazing.”
“I’ve been really impressed with the leadership and the ability to make the decisions collaboratively to address this issue,” said McGee. “It’s been great to work with my other colleagues as we try to take this head-on together.”