Newton Mayor Urges State Oversight Of BC Coronavirus Response

NEWTON, MA — Mayor Ruthanne Fuller wants the state to strengthen its oversight of Boston College as the school has experienced a spike in coronavirus cases.

"While the number of new cases in Newton are moving in the right direction, we’re continuing to see a concerning number of cases at Boston College," said Fuller in a statement.

During the two-week period from Jan. 31 to Feb. 13, members of the Boston College community, who live in Newton on and off campus, accounted for about 36 percent of Newton’s total number of cases, or 76 of the city's 208 cases, the mayor said.

She said she is also urging Boston College officials to ensure that their students "strictly adhere" to public health guidelines. Patch has reached out to the college.

According to Boston College's COVID-19 dashboard, there were 81 positive cases from Monday, Feb. 15, through Feb. 21. And 124 undergraduate students were in isolation.

"We are continuing to urge Boston College officials that their students strictly adhere to public health guidelines and to urge the state to strengthen the oversight," Fuller said, but did not offer specifics. A spokesperson for the mayor's office said Health and Human Services Commissioner Deborah Youngblood has been in weekly meetings with the state and Boston College.

In September, the mayor said she was "gravely concerned" about the cases at the school after 67 coronavirus cases popped up in one week. Fuller then called for increased testing at the school.

Pushback from Newton, Brookline and Boston prompted Gov. Charlie Baker to say the state was stepping up its contact tracing collaborative efforts at the school.

School officials told Brookline's Select Board in September that discipline for students who did not abide by the school's COVID-19 protocols was "severe."

Fuller's more recent comments come as the rate of people testing positive per 100,000 has steadily decreased during the past month. Newton’s positivity rate was also under 1 percent during the two-week period ending Feb. 18. Of the 33,275 tests administered to Newton residents during that time, 0.74 percent came back positive. The statewide positivity rate was at 2.7 percent

As of Feb. 18, there have been 3,459 people in Newton who have tested positive for the virus since March, of those, 200 people have died.

Jenna Fisher is a news reporter for Patch. Got a tip? She can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a something you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how.