‘Breakthrough’ coronavirus infections up again, and Cambridge falls behind Chelsea and Everett

Covid testing has returned to Harvard Square, the Church Street location that hosted a testing site during the winter. (Photo: Marc Levy)

The number of groundbreaking Covid-19 cases in Cambridge – people infected despite being fully vaccinated – has risen sharply in recent weeks, with two-thirds of total breakthroughs this year occurring in July and early August, according to the Cambridge Public Health Department . The department said 107 of the total of 160 breakthrough cases in 2021 occurred between July 1 and August 3.

Another revelation highlighted the danger to children under the age of 12 who cannot receive the vaccine. The department said a group of 32 recent cases are likely related to a Cambridge children’s summer program that saw 20 students under the age of 12 test positive. Another three cases concerned employees and interns, and nine occurred during household contacts between students and employees.

The department has not identified the program. It said students and staff had followed all recommended Covid precautions. The highly infectious Delta variant, which now accounts for an estimated 83 percent of the cases in Massachusetts, was identified in “several” cases during the summer program, the department said.

Another 10 new cases in Cambridge have been linked to a Covid-19 outbreak in Provincetown on July 4, the health department said. This cluster, triggered by holiday celebrations, spread to hundreds of people across the country and focused on groundbreaking cases as the majority of people who became infected were fully vaccinated. The Cambridge Health Department did not say if any of Cambridge’s 10 residents were vaccinated.

The disclosures were made in response to Cambridge Day questions. The health department has not submitted weekly Covid-19 reports to the city council as it did before the summer break, although it continues to publish detailed daily and weekly numbers on cases, new infections, cases in different ages and populations, and tests. among other things. A total of 276 residents tested positive between July 1 and August 3, including the 107 breakthrough cases.

The health department said it did not know of any fully vaccinated people who were hospitalized; An unvaccinated resident was hospitalized. The ministry has recommended all residents, vaccinated or not, to hide indoors when they are not at home and has made more detailed recommendations here.

Get tested

The city also added a third day of free Covid-19 testing at 50 Church St., Harvard Square, every Sunday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Lines at the site extended over more than two blocks of the situation during the winter wave on Sunday. Tests are also available on Mondays from 4pm to 8pm and Thursdays from 11am to 3pm on the second floor of CambridgeSide Shopping Center, 100 CambridgeSide Place, East Cambridge.

The city’s expert advisory board disbanded at the beginning of June. The group sent final recommendations to the city, but officials refused to release the document. The city’s law firm said the council was exempt from disclosure as it was “an issue in the current internal political deliberations of the city of Cambridge”.

While the group met, the city posted minutes of meetings on its website showing that city officials sometimes disregarded the panel’s recommendations, particularly when it came to allowing indoor dining during the pandemic.

Compare with other communities

Meanwhile, the number of Covid-19 cases in Cambridge began to rise last month and appears to have reached a plateau, albeit a relatively high one, in the past two weeks. The case rate, as measured by the state Department of Health in its latest weekly report Thursday, put Cambridge in an unfamiliar negative light when compared to some other communities that have less financial and social benefits.

For example, the average two-week mean new case rate in Cambridge was 10.4 cases per 100,000 population, higher than the former “hot spot” communities of Chelsea and Everett. As for vaccinations, 78 percent of Chelsea residents had received at least one vaccination, compared with 74 percent in Cambridge, and in both cities 67 percent of residents were fully vaccinated.

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