WINTHROP, Mass. — Officials in Winthrop are urging residents to get tested for coronavirus at a free testing site set up Wednesday, as the town is one of nine communities designated by the state as high-risk zones.
The first known COVID-19 death in the state was in Winthrop. Since then, through testing and tracing, cases had remained low, until the past couple weeks, officials said in a news conference Wednesday.
“We’re still suffering from this virus unfortunately,” said Town Manager Austin Faison. “We need the help of our residents to get tested. We need everyone to be tested.”
Faison spoke at the new testing site behind the E. B. Newton School on Pauline St., where a constant queue of residents waited in their cars to get tested on the first day.
“We decided to get tested to make sure we’re all being safe,” said Winthrop resident Jennifer Spencer from the driver’s seat of her car. “And I’m also a teacher here in town. So I figured it would be the best thing to make sure that I’m ready to go back and be safe for my coworkers and my students.”
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“I’m a senior citizen, and I also work at the school part time,” Carol Quinn added. “So I figured it’s probably the safest thing for me to do it. And I’ll feel better myself just doing it. I’m so afraid of getting the disease, the virus. So I want to do it just to make myself feel better, too.”
Winthrop currently has 22 active cases. The town sits on a peninsula, situated near three other red zones, Revere, Chelsea and Everett. The state’s COVID-19 risk map released Wednesday showed Brockton, Framingham, Lawrence, Lynn and Sutton are also high-risk, based on their number of cases per capita.
“The cases we’re tracking right now in Winthrop are not part of large cluster outbreaks,” said Winthrop Public Health Director Meredith Hurley. “We’re finding that as more people are returning to work and more sectors are opening, there’s more opportunities for transmission.”
The testing site at the E. B. Newton School will operate as a drive-through clinic on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. On Tuesdays and Thursday, testing will be on a walk-up basis. Testing will continue through at least Sept. 12.
The town is working to organize additional pop-up testing sites throughout Winthrop.
For more information, go to www.WinthropCOVID19.com.
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- Massachusetts Coronavirus Information
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