Barnstable County Continues to Respond to COVID-19 and Prepares for Peak
BCREPC Media Release
Barnstable County Regional Emergency Planning Committee
Media Release 008 – COVID-19
April
For Immediate Release
Barnstable County Continues to Respond to COVID-19 and Prepares for Peak
BARNSTABLE (MA) April 24, 2020 – The Barnstable County Regional Emergency Planning Committee (BCREPC) held a conference call on Thursday, April 23, 2020, at 4:00 p.m. to review the current COVID-19 conditions and discussed updates to response efforts in the county. Individuals present on the call included over 100 representatives from agencies across Cape Cod’s 15 towns and Nantucket, including elected officials, representatives from Cape Cod Healthcare, Town Health Agents, and several nonprofits engaged in responding to COVID-19.
Updates and guidance
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported a total of 708 positive cases of COVID-19 and 28 deaths in Barnstable County at the time of this call. Barnstable County continues to anticipate an increase in positive COVID-19 cases and further prepares for an expected peak this week and next across the region.
BCREPC Multi-Agency Coordination Center (MACC) continues to operate as a limited activation in response to COVID-19 from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. daily. The MACC remains focused on its efforts to assist with resource requests from various agencies across Cape Cod, especially for personal protective equipment (PPE). To date, the MACC has arranged over 150 truck deliveries of supplies to Police and Fire Departments, group homes, and other agencies. This number has more than doubled in a week since MEMA has opened a second distribution site in Bridgewater.
The MACC also continues to support and handle resource requests at the COVID-19 test site at Cape Cod Community College. Since testing began on March 17, 2020, a total of 2,150 vehicles have driven through with patients scheduled for testing. The site’s hours of operation are now Monday through Saturday, 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
The Cape Cod and the Islands Regional Network on Homelessness, with a membership of approximately 30 individuals representing the state, county and local government, social service providers, housing agencies, faith-based organizations, the business community, reported their on-going coordinated response addressing the needs of the homeless population. A mobile shower and sanitation site have been successfully operating since last Friday at the Duffy Health Center in Hyannis. Clothing, personal items, and Narcan have been made available to individuals who need them. The group continues to work with MEMA on the expansion of non-medical settings where individuals who need to self-quarantine but do not have a place to go, can do so.
The Royal Falmouth Nursing and Rehabilitation Center and the Wingate Nursing Home in Brewster are now operating as step-down surge sites with a handful of patients. Joint Base Cape Cod is open and ready to accept referrals state-wide; however, at the time of this call, no patients had been admitted yet.
Judy Walden Scarafile, Managing Director of the Major Crisis Relief Fund (MCRF), reported over 350 requests for financial assistance and continue to encourage residents who have been financially impacted by COVID-19 and need help with lost income, food, rent, and more, to contact them at majorcrisisrelieffund.org. Cash donations also continue to be accepted.
The BCREPC wants to ensure that Barnstable County residents know that a coordinated response continues to take place in our region. They ask the public to help slow the spread by limiting movement outside of their homes beyond what is necessary to take care of essentials. The BCREPC encourages all citizens to wear a mask, maintain a physical distance of at least 6 feet, and wash hands for at least 20 seconds. For more information, visit www.barnstablecountyhealth.org/
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Barnstable County Regional Emergency Planning Committee (BCREPC)
The BCREPC was founded in September 2002 to assist the communities on Cape Cod and the Town of Nantucket with addressing hazardous materials emergency planning and response as required by the federal government. Today, the BCREPC has expanded its scope to include “All Hazard” emergency planning issues such as storm response, sheltering and grants management. The BCREPC is a coalition of emergency management, law enforcement, fire service, health care, public health, public works, EMS, military, and numerous other affiliated agencies as outlined by the Massachusetts State Emergency Response Committee (SERC). It represents the towns of Barnstable, Bourne, Brewster, Chatham, Dennis, Eastham, Falmouth, Harwich, Mashpee, Orleans, Provincetown, Sandwich, Truro, Wellfleet, and Yarmouth in Barnstable County, and the town of Nantucket in Nantucket County. The REPC is coordinated by the Barnstable County Department of Health and Environment. Visit www.bcrepc.org
