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From YouTube: Covid-19 Update
Description
Boston Mayor Kim Janey hosts a media availability to discuss updates relating to COVID-19.
A
Good
afternoon
today
I
am
joined
by
marty
martinez,
our
chief
of
health
and
human
services
and
justin
starrett,
our
chief
financial
officer,
and
I
want
to
start
by
reminding
everyone
that
we
are
on
the
second
day
of
a
heat
emergency
here
in
boston
to
help
residents
stay
cool.
Our
bcyf
community
centers
are
open
as
cooling
stations
today
and
tomorrow,
from
10
30
a.m
to
6
p.m.
A
Throughout
the
day,
please
stay
hydrated
drink
plenty
of
fluids,
especially
water
limit
outdoor
activities,
avoid
the
midday
sun
rest,
often
in
shady
areas,
and
never
ever
leave
children
or
pets
in
parked
cars.
If
you
are
headed
to
a
large
body
of
water,
please
make
sure
to
swim
only
where
lifeguards
are
present,
use
a
buddy
system
and
always
watch
children
near
the
water
call
911
immediately.
A
Over
the
last
several
weeks,
we
have
seen
an
increase
in
covet
activity
here
in
our
city
averaging
119
cases
a
day.
The
data
also
show
that
the
vaccine
is
our
best
way
to
protect
ourselves
from
this
virus.
Today,
the
average
number
of
people
with
covid
in
boston
hospitals
is
just
68..
By
comparison,
the
average
number
of
people
with
covent
in
the
hospital
in
early
may,
as
we
began
to
reopen
the
city,
was
twice
as
high
at
127..
A
A
Our
latest
efforts
have
helped
to
narrow
gaps
and
the
black
and
latino
community,
as
well,
with
a
17
percentage
point
increase
in
the
black
vaccination
rate
and
a
23
percentage
point
increase
in
the
latino
vaccination
rate.
We
are
making
real
progress
and
I'm
proud
of
the
work
that
we
are
doing
together
today.
A
A
A
Two
weeks
ago,
when
I
announced
our
plans
to
develop
a
mandate,
I
made
it
clear
that
I
wanted
to
engage
our
workers
and
build
a
thoughtful
plan.
Over
the
last
two
weeks
we
engaged
with
cabinet
chiefs
department,
heads
and
labor
leaders
in
discussion
yesterday.
I
had
the
pleasure
of
speaking
with
many
of
the
municipal
labor
leaders
and
all
of
us
share
the
goal
of
a
healthy
workforce,
and
we
will
continue
to
engage
managers,
workers
and
unions
in
the
coming
weeks
as
we
implement
this
policy.
A
I
want
to
thank
chief
steroid
and
his
team
for
their
work
by
the
end
of
the
month.
All
city,
employees,
contractors
and
volunteers
will
be
required
to
verify
their
vaccination
status
through
a
secured,
centralized
digital
portal.
The
portal
will
be
designed
to
protect
the
privacy
of
our
employees,
health
information.
A
If
employees
do
not
verify
their
status
as
vaccinated,
they
will
be
required
to
enter
a
new
mandatory,
regular
testing
protocol,
which
includes
submitting
proof
of
a
negative
test
result
weekly.
There
will
be
clear
timelines
regarding
when
to
get
tested,
how
to
submit
testing
results
and
when
employees
would
need
to
refrain
from
coming
into
work.
A
Compliance
with
this
new
policy
will
be
phased
in,
starting
on
september
20th,
with
our
public-facing
workers,
who
interact
with
high-priority
residents
like
children,
in
k-12
schools
and
our
seniors
october,
4th
for
all
public-facing
employees
and
finally,
on
october
18th
for
all
city
workers.
All
city
workers
will
be
required
to
comply
with
this
new
mandate.
A
A
There
are
a
number
of
mobile
vaccination
clinics
available
in
the
coming
days,
including
the
islamic
society
of
boston,
cultural
center.
Tomorrow,
dudley,
cafe
and
dorchester
emmanuel
church
on
saturday
and
broader
brewhouse
in
brighton,
as
well
as
our
open,
newbery
street
event.
On
sunday,
we
will
continue
to
bring
vaccination
clinics
to
every
neighborhood
and
focus
on
the
gaps
to
ensure
our
most
impacted
populations,
get
access
as
well
as
we
have
seen
over
the
past
year
when
we
trust
the
science
track,
the
data
and
work
together.
A
A
For
our
employees
there
are
18
000
employees
and
we
are
the
largest
employer
in
the
city
of
boston
and
is
so
important
that
we
do
everything
we
can
to
protect,
not
just
our
workforce,
but
the
people
that
we
serve.
We
encourage
other
employers
to
do
the
same
when
it
comes
to
customers,
residents
of
our
city,
many
neighborhoods
that
still
have
lower
vaccination
rates
than
others
or
populations
that
still
have
lower
popul
vaccination
rates.
What
it
is
important
that
we
don't
do
is
lock
them
out.
A
We
continue
to
prioritize
them
when
it
comes
to
the
vaccine,
but
to
suggest
that
half
of
black
residents
couldn't
go
to
a
grocery
store,
I
think
is
insane
so.
Instead
we
are
prioritizing
them
meeting
them
where
they
are
partnering
with
our
community
health
centers
with
all
of
the
partners
who
receive
the
vaccine
equity
grant.
We
are
investing
in
people
in
programs
that
work.
We
want
everyone
in
our
city
to
get
vaccinated
and
it
is
so
important.
This
is
our
best
hope
at
beating
this
pandemic.
A
I
encourage
others
to
follow
suit
and
do
the
same
for
their
workforce,
but
there
is
a
big
difference
between
a
workforce
and
customers
who
need
daily
services
every
single
day
and
count
on
going
to
the
grocery
store
to
the
gym,
to
libraries
and
other
things
in
our
city.
We
continue
to
prioritize
getting
folks
vaccinated.
A
So
what
I
would
say
is
I
am
not
going
to
politicize
the
pandemic,
I'm
going
to
continue
to
prioritize
people
in
our
city,
people
who
need
the
life
saving
vaccine
to
make
sure
that
we
can
all
thrive
and
beat
this
pandemic
to
make
sure
that
we
can
get
past
covet
19..
We
may
be
living
with
this
for
quite
some
time.
What
I
have
done
from
the
very
beginning
is
follow
the
data
and
trust
the
science.