Waltham Sees 'Significant Surge' In Coronavirus Cases Overnight

WALTHAM, MA — The mayor announced that the number of people who have tested positive for the new coronavirus spiked overnight, following the city's first reported death related to it. But, the mayor did not say how many people may have been infected, citing an advisory from the state that has seemed to confuse a number of municipalities across the commonwealth.

"We have had a significant surge of COVID-19 cases overnight," Mayor Jeannette McCarthy said in a statement. "The good news is 12 have recovered and are out of isolation, but as we go into April with more testing and more social contact the numbers are going to increase."

It's unclear how many people in Waltham community of some 63,000, have since tested positive. Waltham officials said Sunday they would no longer publish the number of cases of people who tested positive for COVID-19, citing advice from the state on Friday.

The Massachusetts case count grew to 6,620 on Tuesday, including 89 deaths. Thirty-three people died over the last 24 hours, the biggest one-day jump the state has seen since the beginning of the outbreak. On March 25, the last time Waltham released numbers, officials said there were 24 people who had tested positive.

On Tuesday in an email to Patch, McCarthy left open the possibility of that changing.

While, DPH can and has advised municipalities about best practices and things to consider, it has no authority to require municipalities not to publish numbers, and may have been merely reiterating privacy law.

On Friday at a press conference with the governor, Massachusetts Secretary for Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders expounded and acknowledged that community members want to know the numbers in their own municipalities. She advised against sharing status about particular individual - lest they experience bullying.

"So what I'm telling you is that it's a very constant conversation that we're having," she said, before adding "There would be nothing to preclude a local board of health from saying we have 15 positive cases in their community."

In a statement sent to Patch Monday, a spokesperson from DPH said communities were at liberty to share the numbers.

"The decision to share case counts is the responsibility of a city or town," a Massachusetts Department of Health spokesperson said in a statement to Patch. "DPH recommends that local boards of health respect the privacy and confidentiality of residents when providing case counts."

This has raised questions in cities and towns from Newton to Chelmsford about whether they should or can release the number of people who have tested positive for the coronavirus. Residents have criticized the move saying they'd like to know not only how many people in their individual communities, but where the cases are generally located within their communities, so they can be better informed.

Rather than highlight numbers, the mayor reiterated what she and health officials have been trying to drum home:

"IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT PEOPLE STAY HOME," she wrote in an announcement on the city website.

Health officials from the Centers for Disease Control have also repeatedly said the best way to slow the spread of the coronavirus is to avoid touching your face, to wash your hands much more frequently, and for at least 20 seconds, to avoid coming within at least 6 feet of any human that's not in your household and to stay home if you aren't feeling well.

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Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).