To our Readers:
In an effort to keep our community informed during the public-health crisis, we will post local virus-related information free of charge.
If you have any crisis-related stories, please submit them to ([email protected]).
For comprehensive daily news, home delivery and online only subscriptions are available via itemlive.com.
Lynn virus deaths spike
By Gayla Cawley | May 5, 2020
Fourteen Lynn residents have died from the coronavirus since last Friday, while Peabody’s death toll now stands at 83.
Elsewhere, Lynnfield, Marblehead and Saugus each reported additional deaths on Monday, while cases continue to rise across the region.
The spike in Lynn deaths, which brings the city’s total number of virus fatalities to 63, stands in stark contrast to the relatively low number of new cases reported in the city over the same timeframe.
There were just 22 new COVID-19 cases reported in Lynn on Monday, and 107 since last Friday. Factoring in those who have recovered and died, the city’s caseload is now 2,370, according to city data.
Although younger people between the ages of 21-61 are getting infected at the highest rate, the majority of the city’s deaths have been elderly residents, which is one of the populations most at-risk of severe COVID-19 illness.
Fifty-seven of the city’s 63 deaths have been people between the ages of 61-100. No one under the age of 40 has died.
There are now 758 cases and 83 residents have died from the virus in Peabody, according to the city’s Health Director Sharon Cameron.
Six more Peabody residents have died since Saturday, and there were 63 new positive cases over that same timeframe.
More than 80 percent of the city’s coronavirus deaths have occurred in nursing homes, according to Peabody Mayor Edward A. Bettencourt.
“We have a number of senior homes and elder care facilities that have affected our numbers,” said Bettencourt. “Our first priority is the health and safety of our residents. Our health department, our nurses, and everyday citizens are helping out to try to limit the impact and help all of our residents and families. Peabody has been impacted just like every other city and town locally. It’s just tragic what’s happening.”
Marblehead has seen seven more deaths in the past week — the town updates its fatalities each Monday and is now reporting eight residents have died from the virus. A total of 127 residents have been infected.
In Saugus, three more residents have died since Saturday, bringing the town’s death toll to 16. Eleven new cases were reported, which brings its caseload to 336, according to the town.
Another death was reported in Lynnfield on Monday. There are now 77 confirmed cases in town and 11 residents have died, according to the town’s website.
Deaths remained at five in Nahant, but another COVID-19 case was reported on Monday to bring the town’s total to 31. Despite the low caseload, Nahant Town Administrator Antonio Barletta suggested the town’s count will rise as the weather continues to get warmer.
“I’m nervous about the numbers in a week from now or two weeks from now,” said Barletta. “With the nicer weather and being inside for so long, people are eager to get outside and enjoy the sunshine. Usually the numbers are the positive tests we get — those numbers are usually a week to two weeks after someone begins to see symptoms or comes into contact with someone else, so I’m nervous about how recent activity due to the recent weather impacts our numbers.”
At press time, Revere and Swampscott had not provided updated case counts. As of last Friday, Revere had 1,185 cases and 40 deaths, while Swampscott had 106 cases and seven deaths.
Item reporter Anne Marie Tobin contributed to this report.