Chelsea falls out of coronavirus high-risk zone, but more work to be done on housing, food insecurity

The day Chelsea finally fell off the state’s high-risk list for coronavirus transmission, Gladys Vega was on a video conference with state lawmakers, pleading for more access to potentially life-saving vaccines.

“I do my best to convince people in my community that getting vaccinated is the right thing to do,” an emotional Vega said during the legislative oversight hearing on the state’s vaccine rollout. “But it’s very hard because I convinced them, but I have to wait for an appointment in a system that doesn’t work because it crashes.”

Two days later, Vega, the executive director of Chelsea’s La Colaborativa, was in tears once more describing a 45-year-old Chelsea man who lost his job and his housing because of the pandemic.

“We got him a room. We’re going to cover him for three months. But that means now we’re going to have to find him clothes, shoes, because he has nothing,” Vega told the Herald on Saturday, dabbing her eyes as she spoke. “It’s that or underneath the bridge.”

Chelsea’s improving coronavirus metrics are “a blessing,” Vega said. But in a city that’s borne the brunt of dual public health and economic crises for nearly a year now, Vega said “it feels like we don’t catch up” to all the need.

Chelsea dropped out of the state’s high-risk “red” zone this past week for the first time since the Baker administration rolled out its color-coded system last August. But even as they cheered the progress, local officials said their efforts to combat the pandemic and its accompanying economic devastation are far from over.

A city of Chelsea’s size is considered to be in the red zone if it has more than 10 average daily cases per 100,000 residents in the two-week period under review, and a positivity rate of 5% or higher.

In January, as cases surged after the holidays, Chelsea’s average daily incidence rate topped 144 cases per 100,000 residents and its positivity rate soared to nearly 11%.

Barely a month later, Chelsea’s average daily incidence rate was down to 40.8 per 100,000 residents during the two-week period ending Feb. 20.

That rate is still considered high risk. But Chelsea’s positivity rate has fallen to 4.46%, knocking the perpetually high-risk city out of the red zone and into the moderate-risk “yellow” category for the first time.

“It’s a marker that needs to be celebrated, the way that we’ve all kind of worked together and made things happen,” Chelsea City Councilor Damali Vidot said.

At the same time, “I’m a little leery of being too happy about it because I don’t want to jinx anything,” Vidot said. “It’s the first time we’re in the yellow and it’s literally by the skin of our teeth.”

Chelsea officials urged residents not to let their guards down amid the declining numbers. Vaccines are getting into the arms of local people through a partnership between La Colaborativa and East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, but officials said more shots are needed. And they’re pushing for more state and federal aid to combat the twin health and economic crises that have exacerbated existing inequities in their city.

“Economic issues haven’t gone away,” Chelsea City Manager Thomas Ambrosino said. “There’s still a tremendous amount of housing insecurity in the city and food insecurity. Even when the pandemic dies down, those impacts are going to linger for quite a while.”

According to data released Saturday, Massachusetts is on track to receive more than $8 billion in the pending federal stimulus package — a sum that will be split between the state and municipalities. Chelsea itself would be in line for about $7.4 million to $8.9 million.

Ambrosino said “significant money” is needed now and in the future “because we’re going to need to be providing housing and food for a long time.”

La Colaborativa is packing 7,000 boxes per week at its food pantry, and is working to connect some 4,000 people with financial and housing assistance.

Vidot said the various levels of government need to commit to further planning to improve the situation.

“We have to sit down and figure out a plan for a long-term, sustainable future in which we can all be housed and fed and live safely,” Vidot said. “We’ve been working so hard, we cannot get comfortable.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2ZYA2m4