Marblehead Has Fewer Than Five Active Coronavirus Cases: Patch PM

MARBLEHEAD, MA —Today is Tuesday, June 23. Here's what Patch has been covering in Marblehead and across Massachusetts today.

The latest weekly report from the Marblehead health department shows the town is continuing to make progress in containing the coronavirus. The report shows that there was just one new case confirmed between June 16 and 22, and that the number of active cases had dipped below five. The state Department of Public Health does not require towns of less than 50,000 residents to disclose the exact number of cases when it is fewer than five,

The report also marked the fourth straight week Marblehead had not recorded any new reported COVID-19 deaths.

The chart below shows the key numbers from each of the 13 weekly reports the Marblehead Health Report has issued since the coronavirus crisis started in March.

Also on Marblehead Patch today:

• Marblehead's 4th Of July Fireworks 2020 Canceled
• Marblehead Keeping Picnic Tables Off Beach
• Marblehead Prepares To Reopen Municipal Buildings
  

Elsewhere On The North Shore

• Swampscott officials have scheduled a "facilitated discussion about race, discrimination, inequality and injustice in the Town" for Wednesday after Selectman Don Hause was accused of making disparaging comments about the Black Lives Matter movement while having dinner with his wife and another couple at a Swampscott restaurant earlier this month. Hause has denied making the comments and has said he welcomes the forum.
• An inmate at the Essex County Correctional Facility tested positive for the coronavirus on June 17, according to the latest weekly report from the Massachusetts Department of Corrections. Last week's confirmed case of COVID-19 was the first at the jail since June 3, when two inmates tested positive. Since a court order mandating testing and weekly reports in early April, 75 inmates, 16 correctional officers and four staff members at the jail have tested positive for the coronavirus.
• A juvenile court judge did not have to release a teenager deemed dangerous and awaiting trial on gun charges on $500 last month, according to a ruling by the state's highest court. In its ruling Monday, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court said that, taken alone, trial delays caused by the coronavirus crisis are not enough of a reason to release a person on bail.
• Work on a $24.7 million bridge reconstruction project will cause delays on a stretch of Route 128 through Beverly in both the daytime and nighttime hours throughout the month of July.

Across Massachusetts

• The Baker administration set Aug. 39 and 30 as the dates for the state sales tax holiday. The state's 6.25 percent sales tax won't be collected on purchases made those days. The sales tax holiday was made permanent in 2018.
• Columbia Gas was sentenced Tuesday for violating the federal Pipeline Safety Act in relation to the Sept. 2018 Merrimack Valley gas explosions, prosecutors announced. The company will pay a $53 million fine and sell its Massachusetts business, in accordance with a plea deal announced in February.

Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).