LWN010622

2
In with the old:
COVID-19 is still
a town menace
COVID
From page 1
the last 14 days reported since
Christmas Day has more than
doubled, increasing from 169
cases on Dec. 25 to now 366
cases. The total number of cases
now stands at 2,348.
The town started the month
of December with 96 reported
cases as of Dec. 1. By Dec. 15,
that number had increased to
118 reported cases. By Dec. 31,
the number of cases had soared
to 319.
The number of reported cases
over the last seven days showed
a slight improvement, dropping
from 202 cases as of Jan. 1 to
199 as of Jan. 4.
Lynnfield Public School’s
COVID-19 dashboard reveals a
significant spike in cases over
the last 14 days in the town’s
schools. As of Jan. 1, the dashboard
reported there were
47 cases in the schools. Two
days later, that number had increased
to 64, with the largest
increase being reported at the
Huckleberry Hill Elementary
School, which jumped from one
case to 16. The number of cases
at Summer Street Elementary
School and Lynnfield Middle
School also rose, with the middle
school increasing from 14 cases
to 19, and Summer Street increasing
from 11 to 13 cases.
Despite the increase,
Superintendent of Schools
Kristen Vogel said the reopening
of schools Monday following
the Christmas holiday
went extremely well.
“We are in great shape to
start the year ― just more of
the same,” she said Monday
afternoon.
Vogel said 270 test kits were
distributed to staff members
on Sunday, which she said will
help the district stay on top of
things. She said that while the
positivity rate in the town is
high (approximately 30 percent,
according to Vogel), she was
encouraged that the district had
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seen a modest reduction of the
number of cases in the schools
as of New Year’s Day.
“It was really high during the
middle to end of last week (the
week before Christmas), but the
numbers did go down a bit or,
at worse, leveled off,” she said.
Vogel said the district’s dashboard
numbers are based on the
honor system.
“Our numbers are based
on what parents report to us,”
she said. “Occasionally, we
get notice from the Health
Department, but we rely almost
entirely on parents’ reporting.”
Overall, young people continue
to account for a significant
number of cases. The latest data
show the town saw an increase
in the number of cases in every
age group except residents aged
80-89, which reported four
cases. Young people continue
to account for a significant
number of cases. The highest
number of cases in town over
the last 14 days as of Jan. 3,
have been from residents aged
10-19, which now has 75 reported
cases, while in the 20-29
age group there are 61 reported
cases. Other age groups that
saw increases include 50-59
(56), 30-39 (47), 40-49 (46),
0-9 (39), 60-69 (23), 70-79 (12)
and 90+ (3).
There have been 31 confirmed
deaths in the Town of
Lynnfield.
If there is any good news
to take away from the recent
numbers, it may be found by
examining last year’s numbers.
On Dec. 31, 2020, the town
reported 164 cases over the
previous 14 days. The number
of active cases declined every
week thereafter for nine consecutive
weeks, reaching as low as
51 cases on Feb. 18.
Davis is quick to say he has
his doubts if a similar pattern is
ahead.
“Personally, I don’t think we
have peaked yet this time, but I
look forward to the steady decline
whenever it arrives,” he said.
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Masses tests positive for
COVID-19, the parish promises
to make an announcement
on its website.
The congregation of the
Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints continues to
meet in-person, said Bishop
Aaron Udy. The church strongly
recommends members wear
masks and socially distance
themselves from each other.
“That is something we are
trying to enforce but not force,”
said Udy.
Every other pew is marked as
not for seating so people can sit
six feet apart from each other.
Starting Sunday, the church
made its classes virtual via
Zoom due to the omicron
variant surge.
Udy said that he is hoping
they don’t have to go completely
virtual, but if there are
further spikes in COVID-19
cases, they will have to.
“We are trying to keep our
finger on the pulse of it,” said
Udy.
After two people who regularly
participated in worship
tested positive for COVID-
19, the Centre Congregational
Church made a decision to
go virtual last Sunday, live
streaming from the sanctuary.
“It went really well; we are
going to stick with only virtual,
live streaming worship for the
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The Reverend Nancy Rottman, pastor of Centre Congregational Church in Lynnfield, records
the Holy Communion worship service.
Town’s churches respond
to post-holiday surge
CHURCH
From page 1
month of January and then reassess
at the end of the month,”
said Rev. Nancy Rottman.
“This is a new configuration
for us.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic
started in 2020, Rottman
would record videos, edit them
and post on YouTube.
Switching to Zoom allowed
the church to bring back virtual
coffee fellowship time after the
worship that many members
of the church missed. Rottman
said that some people, especially
those with social anxiety,
might prefer this remote
opportunity.
“All different types of people
benefit from different styles of
interaction,” said Rottman.
The links to virtual worship
and events are sent out in the
weekly news email. Anyone
who would like to join the
email list should call the church
or message them on Facebook.
Rottman said that their decision
to go virtual was motivated
by the desire to protect families
of the staff as well as all the
people in the congregation.
“We are mindful always,
even if people are having mild
symptoms with it now, we’ve
had people from our congregation
who died from the virus
so we are just sensitive to all of
our families and are trying to
do as best as we can,” she said.
Wakefield Lynnfield United
Methodist Church currently
holds services in person and
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also records them for their
YouTube channel. The congregation
is asked to wear masks
and refrain from shaking hands
or any other forms of personal
contact.
“We try to limit the amount
of movement in the sanctuary
other than people standing up
and sitting down,” said Rev.
Glenn Mortimer. “We have
folks taking communion in
their pews.”
The church purchased an
electrostatic sprayer during the
pandemic to have the church
disinfected anytime there are
people in the building and
before and after worship on
Sundays. Masks and hand sanitizer
are available at entrances
as well.
Early in the pandemic the
church did a drive-in service.
“We are blessed with a
very large parking lot,” said
Mortimer.
People were able to stay
in their cars during the worship
and Mortimer led them
in prayer via a public-address
(PA) system for six months.
“I’m not opposed to doing
that again. If it is in the best
interest of protecting people in
the congregation, in the community,
I’m more than willing
to go back to doing that,” said
Mortimer.
St. Paul’s Episcopal
Church continues to adhere to
COVID-19 guidelines most
recently issued on Nov. 15
by the Episcopal Diocese of
Massachusetts, said Heather
Rose, parish administrator. The
guidelines include mandatory
masks for everyone, physical
distancing between individuals
and family units, restrictions
on administration of the sacrament,
and extreme caution at
any fellowship gathering.
St. Paul’s continues to offer
both in-person and virtual
Sunday services. In-person
services occur at 8:30 a.m. and
10:00 a.m. and the 10:00 a.m.
service is streamed live via
Zoom for parishioners who are
more comfortable participating
at home.