By Alexi Cohan| alexi.cohan@bostonherald.com | Boston Herald
U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch practiced social distancing Monday, hosting a virtual coronavirus meeting to field questions with a local doctor on Facebook during which he said a citywide lockdown is unlikely, but “on the table.”
Asked by a viewer about a lockdown in Boston to halt the spread of the contagious coronavirus, Lynch said, “I don’t think we are at that stage currently, we don’t have a significant flare up in Boston.”
He later continued, “Everything is on the table if the circumstances were to present themselves, including lockdown.”
Massachusetts has taken unprecedented steps to control the outbreak including shuttering restaurants and schools.
“The guidelines in Massachusetts are among the most aggressive in the country,” said Lynch.
Lynch highlighted bills that have been filed to provide financial relief as the virus continues to spread along with measures to boost paid family leave, free testing, access to medical care and protections for the uninsured.
Tufts Medical Center Physician Dr. Gabriela Andujar Vazquez joined Lynch to answer pressing medical questions surrounding the virus and its spread.
Vazquez said that while most children do not get severe illness from coronavirus, they can still expose older family members.
If someone is infected with the virus once, there is evidence that they may have some immunity if faced with exposure again.
“This virus is new and we think that you have some immunity to the virus if you get infected. There is some protection there,” said Vazquez.
Avoiding coronavirus, which is spread through respiratory droplets, is best done by keeping at least six feet away from others and practicing good hand-washing, said Vazquez. Wearing a protective mask is only necessary if you have been infected.
COVID-19 cases in the Bay State rose to 197 on Thursday, the Department of Public Health reported. Across the nation, cases neared 3,500, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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