How’re you holding up, newshounds?
Hopefully well in this brave new world of “social distancing.” But just like those containers of Jell-O which are probably finding their way onto more hospital cafeteria trays than ever these days, there’s always room for a little politics, even in a pandemic.
The region’s Beacon Hill delegation is up in arms, and rightfully so, after it was revealed that far more COVID-19 patients seem to be dying in Franklin County than anywhere else in Massachusetts.
While the projected Bay State death rate for the virus is 1.8 percent, numbers revealed in a recent article in “Commonwealth Magazine” indicated that the death rate in Franklin County is closer to 12 percent, which local reps want the Baker Administration to look into.
“It certainly got the delegation’s attention,” 1st Franklin State Rep. Natalie Blais (D-Sunderland) said. “We not only want the state to be aware of it, we want to know what their plan of action is.”
Sen. Jo Comerford, Blais, and other members of the delegation sent a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Mary Lou Sudders this past weekend seeking answers which may not be easy to come by as the pandemic speeds toward its zenith locally.
Regardless of what our friends in Boston are saying, I find it hard to believe that Massachusetts students will be seeing the inside of a classroom until the fall.
Toward that end, local educators are working to establish “remote learning” systems to allow students to have at least some level of instruction while holed up at home. The Greenfield School Committee this week approved such a plan, which Chairwoman Amy Proietti says has been in development since the state’s March 23 recommendation that districts put remote curricula in place.
“The superintendent and our educators have literally been working around the clock on this,” Proietti said. “The general consensus among the committee is that it is comprehensive and it hits the mark for what is a daunting task for any district.”
Proietti declined to speculate on whether students will return to the classroom this year, but did say there are discussions at the state level about the potential for extending remote learning through the last day of school, which in Greenfield’s case, is June 11.
Proietti said Greenfield’s new remote learning setup is set to be phased in beginning next week.
One of the big challenges facing communities is how to keep government functioning in an era of social distancing.
Fortunately, there are a number of Internet-based options for town officials to conduct meetings, the most popular of which is “Zoom,” a video-conferencing technology which allows for multiple interactions using computer laptop cameras and microphones.
It’s far from a perfect setup, but it seems to be working for some towns, most notably Sunderland, which appears to have the technology nailed. A big reason for that is its new tech-savvy Town Administrator Geoff Kravitz, who went over and above the call of duty Monday night, when he was forced to run the selectboard meeting from his laptop in his car, which was parked in his parents’ driveway.
“I lost Internet access in my house and had to park there and use their WiFi,” Kravitz said. “Far from the perfect setup.”
Then again, what about this really is?
There are a lot of tough aspects of being forced to stay at home, especially if you are a young kid forced to forgo your birthday party because of social distancing.
But the situation may not be so dire if you happen to live in Athol, where the police department is offering to do a “birthday drive by” for kids stuck at home during this pandemic.
“We realize that some kiddos might be missing out on celebrating their birthdays with their friends and family,” the department said in a recent statement.
Parents wishing to request a drive by should send the Athol Police a message with a date and time, and the department will make every effort to be there — in the process, taking the concept of “to protect and serve” to previously unseen levels.
Chris Collins is a contributing editor to the website franklincountynow.com. He is a former Recorder staff reporter and a Greenfield native, and can be reached at sourcechris.collins@gmail.com.