A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to an update on COVID-19

The Public Health Response to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Cambridge COVID-19 WEEKLY REPORT CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL JANUARY 4, 2021

Massachusetts Cities Comparison *14-day period reflects 12/6/20-12/19/20 (Dec. 24 Report) and 12/13-20-12/26/20 (Dec. 31 Report) Source: Massachusetts Department of Public Health Weekly COVID-19 Data Reports City/Town Average Daily Incident Rate per 100,000 (14 days*) December 24 Report December 31 Report Boston 59.1 54.9 Cambridge 26.9 26.0 Lowell 120.9 91.1 Newton 23.5 24.3 Somerville 48.7 39.0 Springfield 84.0 76.3 Worcester 85.6 76.3 State 63.2 58.3 2

Case Snapshot New infections statewide and in Cambridge continue to remain high and above pre-Thanksgiving levels. Source: City of Cambridge COVID-19 Data Center, downloaded on 1/3/20 at 4pm. Please note that the death data were updated on 1/4/21. 3,296 Total Cases (confirmed, probable and suspect) ● 3,009 in the community ● 287 cases in long-term cares 110 Deaths ● 66% of deaths were among LTC residents Active Cases ● 19.7 % of all cases are active 25.7 Confirmed Cases per 100,000 (7-day average for Dec. 27-Jan 2) 3

Situational Update ●New infections statewide and in Cambridge continue to remain high and above pre-Thanksgiving levels. ●Hospitalizations¹ ○ Available non-ICU hospital beds in Metro West (incl. Cambridge) communities: 18% ○ Available ICU hospital beds in Metro West communities: 30% ●Deaths2 — Nine Cambridge residents died from COVID-19 in December: ○ Age: 60s (4 residents); 70s (1 resident ); 80s (3 residents); and 90s (1 resident ) ○ Place of Residence: Private residence (5 residents); senior public housing (3 residents) and long-term care facilities (1 resident) ¹Massachusetts Department of Public Health Daily COVID-19 Data Report: January 3, 2021 ²Cambridge Public Health Department data, as of January 4, 2021 4

COVID-19 Community Testing 5

Cambridge Community Corps • Cambridge Community Corps (C3) members conducted door-to-door outreach in the Wellington-Harrington neighborhood on Saturday, Dec. 26 to encourage residents to get tested that day at the Pisani Center in The Port. • Over 300 door knockers (flyers) about COVID-19 testing were distributed at Wellington-Harrington residences. • Plans also include redeploying C3 to support the COVID testing sites. 6

COVID-19 Vaccine Update 7

COVID-19 Vaccine Update • CPHD will work with ProEMS to vaccinate first responders. ○ Operation Nightingale (week of January 11) ○ @1,000 personnel including campus safety from HU & MIT • Cambridge Health Alliance and Mount Auburn Hospital began vaccinating health care workers last week. • Residents and staff of all long-term cares started to receive the vaccine last week. Lisa Dobberteen, MD, receives her COVID-19 vaccine at Cambridge Health Alliance. 8

COVID Vaccine Communications • Goal: Increase trust in a COVID vaccine resulting in a high percentage of vaccine participation by residents. • Approach: Multi-phase communication strategy beginning in January 2021 (through Fall 2021): ○Audience Segmentation (communities of color; older adults; etc) ○Multiple Messages (trust, safety, importance of continued vigilance after vaccine) ○Multiple Channels (based upon demographics): social media; door-to-door/grassroots campaign; community forums/town hall; City website ○All Hands-on Deck: (trusted community leaders, residents and key influencers 9

COVID Vaccine Communications • Winter 2021 ○Vaccine Task Force members identified and Task Force launched ○Message development and communications dissemination strategy: • Community engagement (direct and through key community leaders) • Informal focus groups; interviews • Translation and appropriate literacy levels ○Campaign Launch: • Use of physicians, nurses, leaders in faith communities (pictures of them getting vaccinated) = trusted messengers • PSAs; town halls/forums; print and electronic media • “Vax Up Cambridge”: develop a tagline for stickers, posters, etc (much like “I Voted”) 10

Cambridge Public Schools Metrics January 3, 2021 Metrics that exceed recommended thresholds are displayed as orange 1.32% Percentage of positive COVID-19 tests among Cambridge residents in last 14 days ending Dec. 26. Threshold: <5% of COVID-19 tests among residents are positive. Below Threshold 25.7 7-day average of new confirmed cases per day, per 100,000 people in Cambridge, ending January 2. Threshold: < 25 new confirmed cases per day, per 100,000 people (7-day average) Above Threshold 851.5 Level of COVID-19 found in sewage wastewater in MWRA, as of Dec. 30. Threshold: COVID-19 in wastewater detected at less than 100 copies viral genomes/mL Above Threshold 11