News Flash

COVID-19 Data

• As of yesterday, confirmed COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts totaled 621,261.
• According to public health data from the MA Department of Public Health (DPH) released last week, the Town’s designation remains “yellow,” indicating a “medium risk” of spread in the community. 
• There have been 90 new cases of COVID-19 in Hingham over the past 14 days, and a total of 1,832 cases in Hingham since the start of the pandemic.  
• The average daily incidence rate for the Town of Hingham was 26.8 per 100,000 residents, and our percent positivity rate was 2.71% for the previous 14 days.

Vaccine Rollout

• According to DPH’s daily COVID-19 vaccine report, approximately 1.8 million people in Massachusetts have been fully vaccinated as of yesterday.    
• As of April 8^th, approximately 27% of Hingham residents have been fully vaccinated, up from 23% last week.  
• As of April 5^th, residents age 55+ and individuals with one certain medical condition became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine in Massachusetts.  
• The last phase of the vaccine rollout plan will begin next Monday, April 19^th, when the general public ages 16+ become eligible for the vaccine in Massachusetts. 
• Yesterday, the CDC and FDA reported in a joint statement that more than 6.8 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine have been administered in the U.S. as of April 12.  The agencies are reviewing data involving six reported U.S. cases of a rare and severe type of blood clot in individuals after receiving the J&J vaccine. Until that review process is complete, the CDC and FDA recommended a pause in the use of this vaccine out of an abundance of caution.
• As we mentioned last week, the Town had received J&J vaccines to administer to 10 homebound residents in Hingham.  That program is being placed on hold until further guidance is available from the federal government.  We have reached out to those residents directly to explain the situation.    

Reopening of Municipal Facilities

• As part of the next step in our municipal reopening process, Town Hall and the Senior Center will return to full in-person staffing on Tuesday, June 1, 2021.  We anticipate reopening the building to the public in some fashion shortly thereafter.  
• The Hingham Public Library anticipates reopening to the public in a limited capacity on June 1^st, and more details will be posted on the Library’s website soon.  
• In addition, the Recreation Department is moving forward with a wide array of spring and summer programming; details can be found on the Hingham Recreation website. 
• June 1^st was chosen as it gives Town employees and residents the time and opportunity to get vaccinated once the vaccine becomes available to the general public on April 19.  As I mentioned above, as of last week, about one quarter of Hingham residents are fully vaccinated.
• Implementing these changes on June 1^st is an important next step toward a return to normal, and we appreciate the public’s patience and support throughout the pandemic. 
• We will continue to make the health and safety of our residents and staff our top priority, while still delivering a high level of service to the community. 
• The reopening process may vary for each municipal facility and additional updates about our reopening plans will be shared in the coming weeks on the Town website.