After two years of the pandemic, political turmoil in our nation’s capital, and struggles for racial equity it is clear that many of us are depleted. The addition of the past weeks of seeing war in Europe, devastation of daily life, and ongoing examples of how people are treated differently based on the color of their skin as refugees, have increased that impact: a collective vicarious trauma. Anxiety experienced from watching others suffer - brutally - or experiencing injustice only adds to our ongoing mental health demise as a society. 

Being aware of one’s own self and the impact of such anxiety and pain is important. Also, watching how one reacts - do we take our stress out on others with anger and sarcasm? do we withdraw? do we give too much to the point of depletion? 

At PHIWM, we encourage you to look for resources if you need them. We must respond to collective trauma with collective kindness: look out for others; be more generous with forgiving; practice patience more deeply; breathe.

On Friday, February 25^th, the CDC released a new framework, called COVID-19 Community Levels, to monitor risk and inform prevention protocols. The approach is a shift from their previous framework, which focused solely on transmission of cases in a community, to focusing on disease severity and hospital capacity. The change reflects the evolving landscape of COVID-19, which now includes vaccinations, treatments, and testing. The measures the CDC are using for the COVID-19 Community Levels framework include new hospitalizations, hospital capacity, and cases.

Based on this information, counties are categories as having low, medium, or high COVID-19 community levels. The Community Level category determines the recommendations the CDC is making on prevention measures, such as masking. Recommendations include prevention behaviors for individuals and households and prevention strategies for communities. The CDC encourages local decision-makers to use the county Community Level category to inform policies and encourages individuals to use it to assess their risk. The CDC continues to recommend that all people get vaccinated and boosted and to get tested if you are sick.

CDC individual and household recommendations for each COVID-19 Community Level include:

Vaccination levels and other community factors can also inform risk. These factors may indicate the need for additional prevention layers in some settings, such as schools or high-risk congregate settings.

At all levels, people can choose to wear a mask based on their risk level, risk tolerance, and personal preference. The CDC recommends that people should wear a mask if they have symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19.

To learn more about the COVID-19 Community Level framework, to see their full list of recommendations, and to see the Community Level for your county, visit the CDC’s website. 

We were thrilled to be joined by the Springfield delegation - Sen Adam Gomez, Rep. Angelo Puppolo, Rep Jake Oliveira, and Staff from Sen. Eric Lesser - to officially announce the funding from the Commonwealth for 413Cares, an online resource database for western MA. This funding will support the expansion of 413Cares so more residents can find and utilize needed services, including important COVID information and recovery resources. Watch the WWLP news story here.

Mask Mandates: On February 15th, Massachusetts loosened its mask requirements and will not require masks to be worn in public indoor settings. However, it still recommends masks still be worn by individuals with weakened immune systems, at risk of severe disease, or live with someone who is immunocompromised, at risk of severe disease, The state still requires masks to be worn on: public transportation, in healthcare and congregate care facilities, correctional facilities, emergency shelters, and by home health care workers. Many towns and school districts may keep certain mask mandates, so be sure to check with your local health departments and school boards. 

It’s important to note that individuals who are considered close contacts or who have tested positive must follow the isolation and quarantine guidance which includes staying home for a minimum of 5 days and wearing a mask in public for 5 more days after they leave isolation or quarantine, regardless of vaccination status.  

Mandatos Sobre el Uso de la Mascarilla: A partir del 15 de Febrero, Massachusetts redujo sus requisitos para el uso de la mascarilla y dejó de exigirla en espacios públicos interiores. El estado sigue exigiendo el uso de la mascarilla en el transporte público, en centros de atención médica y centros de atención compartidos, establecimientos penitenciarios, refugios de emergencia y para trabajadores de atención médica a domicilio. Sin embargo, se sigue recomendando el uso de la mascarilla en espacios públicos interiores para: personas con sistemas inmunitarios debilitados,

Es importante tener en cuenta que las personas que se consideran contactos cercanos o que hayan tenido un resultado positivo en la prueba deben seguir los consejos para el aislamiento y la cuarentena, que incluyen el uso de la mascarilla en público durante 5 días más después de salir del aislamiento o la cuarentena, independientemente del estado de vacunación. 

Did You Test Positive? You might want to consider free, safe and effective treatments to help prevent serious illness. Talk with your doctor right away. They will help decide what type of treatment is right for you. A prescription is required for all COVID-19 treatments. You can also call Gothams self-referral line at (508) 213-1380. Gothams hosts several state-sponsored sites that provide COVID treatments.

¿Dio positivo? Es posible que desee considerar tratamientos gratuitos, seguros y efectivos para ayudar a prevenir enfermedades graves. Hable con su médico de inmediato. Le ayudarán a decidir qué tipo de tratamiento es adecuado para usted. Se requiere receta médica para todos los tratamientos de COVID-19. También puede llamar a la línea de autorreferencia de Gothams en (508) 213-1380. Gothams alberga varios sitios patrocinados por el estado que brindan tratamientos de COVID

Testing is another important tool for keeping you and your loved ones safe. Find more information about testing in Western MA on our Testing Resources page.

Las pruebas son otra herramienta importante para que usted y sus seres queridos estén seguros. Encuentre más información sobre las pruebas en el oeste de MA en nuestra página de Recursos para Pruebas.

Vaccines are still the best protection against getting severely ill with COVID-19.

Las vacunas siguen siendo la mejor protección contra una enfermedad grave con COVID-19.

Visit the Western MA COVID-19 Data Dashboard for the latest COVID-19 data for the region. We are back to our regular schedule of updating the dashboard every Friday afternoon!