DENNIS, Mass. — COVID-19 cases on Cape Cod continue to surge, one week before students go on break for April vacation.
According to the latest state data, Sandwich, Mashpee, Barnstable, Hyannis, Yarmouth, Dennis, Brewster and Chatham are all ‘in the red zone’ and on the list for high rate of transmission.
As of Thursday, Dennis was leading all towns in positive cases at 9.7%.
“If you’re planning a getaway, if the weather holds nice over that Spring and April vacation, we really want to remind the public to keep following those good protocols,” said Sen. Julian Cyr, who represents Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.
Cyr told Boston 25 News on Friday that he believes Cape Cod is doing a good job vaccinating locals, which may pay off by the time summer rolls around.
“If we keep this up here on Cape Cod, we’re going to get to having 60-70% of our population or more vaccinated before the time we get into the full summer season,” he said.
According to Dennis Selectman Chris Lambton, the Cape is open for business, but cautiously.
“Half the towns on the Cape are in the red. Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket are both in the red, and that’s not where we want to be,” he said. “I know people love to travel. If you have a house on the Cape you want to come here, enjoy the house, enjoy the beaches, enjoy our amazing restaurants. And I think you should do that. But do it safely.”
Lambton said he is concerned with COVID-19 variants making it more challenging to mitigate the spread, and added that tourists must continue to follow safety protocols.
“Working on the Cape, it’s such a seasonal community. This is when you need to make your money and we’re in the red right now, we want to get out of the red, we need people to keep wearing their masks.”
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