Breakthrough Coronavirus Cases Up 44% In Massachusetts: Patch PM

MASSACHUSETTS — It's Wednesday, Nov. 10. Here's what you should know this afternoon:

• Three police officers shot Tuesday afternoon following an hours-long standoff in Dorchester are expected to survive.
• Framingham mayor-elect Charlie Sisitsky has returned home after a hospital stay, his campaign said Wednesday.
• Some Massachusetts cities are letting local, indoor mask mandates expire.

Scroll down for more on those and other stories Patch has been covering in Massachusetts today.

Today's Top Story

At least 468 Massachusetts residents who have been fully-vaccinated against the coronavirus have died, according to a report released Tuesday by the state Department of Public Health.

The report also showed a 44 percent increase in the number of fully-vaccinated people who have tested positive for COVID-19. There were 4,608 so-called breakthrough cases last week, up 44 percent from 3,192 the previous week. It was the second straight week reported breakthrough cases rose in Massachusetts.

To date, 58,807, or 1.2 percent, of fully-vaccinated Massachusetts residents have tested positive for coronavirus.

Read the full story.

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Wednesday's Other Top Stories

Mayor-elect out of hospital: Framingham mayor-elect Charlie Sisitsky has returned home after a hospital stay, his campaign said Wednesday. The incoming mayor developed an infection after a medical procedure and went to the hospital on Friday evening, his campaign said over the weekend. Sisitsky, 76, is in the process of working on a transition team to as he prepares to take office in 2022.

More accusations of racism on North Shore: More accusations of racism are surfacing in North Shore communities after an explosive report over the weekend accused Danvers officials of failing to respond to problems on its high school hockey team. On Tuesday, two swastikas and other hateful graffiti was found scrawled in a bathroom at the Holten Richmond Middle School in Danvers. Also on Tuesday, the Lynn woman accused of shouting racial insults at three Black families and nearly hitting them with her car in Swampscott last summer pleaded guilty to eight counts of civil rights violations and eight counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

Mask mandates expiring: Some Massachusetts cities are letting local, indoor mask mandates expire. In Medford, the Board of Health voted Monday to rescind the city's indoor mask mandate for businesses. Officials cited weeks of declining case counts and maintaining a positivity rate of under 2 percent, as well as increased access to the COVID-19 vaccine for children ages 5-11. And in Salem, the Board of Health did not act to extend the city's indoor mask order — which began on Aug. 23 — beyond the original Nov. 13 expiration date during its regular meeting on Tuesday. In order to extend the mandate now, the Board would have to call a special meeting by Friday night.

Massachusetts: Tell Someone You're Grateful For Them This Holiday Season

They Said It

"This is an active effort to immediately stop the spread and provide time to add staffing capacity to fully implement the test and stay and contact tracing programs."

• Katie Grassa, principal of Curley K-8 School in Jamaica Plain. The school will be closed for 10 days after a spike in COVID-19 cases.

In Case You Missed It

Suspect dead, three police officers injured: Three police officers shot Tuesday afternoon following an hours-long standoff in Dorchester are expected to survive. A suspect was killed after being shot by officers, authorities said. Police were called to a Ferndale Street home around 9:30 a.m. for a report of a man with a gun threatening people, Acting Boston Police Commissioner Gregory Long told reporters.

By The Numbers

15,000: The number of kids between the ages of 5 and 11 who have gotten the first dose of their COVID-19 vaccine since the pediatric jabs became available in Massachusetts last week