COVID-19 Work and Resources
MAPC is committed to helping local officials and other allies and stakeholders address their needs, and we are encouraging a statewide, coordinated response to this virus. MAPC stands ready to assist your community and the region during this time. This is a challenging, unprecedented situation for all of us, but we can make it easier by supporting each other, sharing resources, and continuing to collaborate.
For the most up-to-date information about COVID-19 in Massachusetts, visit the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's COVID-19 Resources page.
MAPC is sharing new resources, news, and important information on social distancing on social media. Follow and share on our Twitter and Facebook.
More on COVID-19
State Resources
#GetBackMass
Information on mask-wearing, social distancing, and testing; resources; and downloadable and shareable communications materials.
Get Tested MA
Information on how and why to get tested, test site locations, what to do after a positive test, descriptions of different types of testing, and more resources.
COVID-19 Work Overview
Reopening and Recovery
Jump to: Latest Vaccine News | Latest Reopening News
LATEST VACCINE NEWS
Jan. 13:
Residents and staff of low-income and affordable senior housing added to first priority in Phase II of the vaccine rollout. Senior housing settings can provide vaccinations by:
- Work with pharmacies or health providers to offer an on-site clinic
- Contact Local Boards of Health (if Board is running clinics) to provide an on-site clinic
- Have residents schedule appointments at provider locations.
Resources
- COVID-19 vaccine locations for individuals eligible to be vaccinated
- COVID-19 vaccine locations for health care workers
- Beginning Jan. 18: COVID-19 vaccinations for congregate care settings (including homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, veterans' shelters, and private special education schools)
COVID-19 Vaccination Phases (the groups and timeline below may change)
Phase I (we are here):
- COVID-facing healthcare workers
- Long-term care facilities
- First responders
- Congregate care facilities
- Home-based healthcare workers (starting Feb.)
- Non-COVID-facing healthcare workers (starting Feb.)
Phase II (February - March)
- 75+ and/or two comorbid conditions
- Residents of low-income and affordable senior housing
- Essential workers like educators, grocery workers, transit workers, and more
- Adults 65+
- Individuals with one comorbid condition
Phase III: General Public (Beginning April)
LATEST REOPENING NEWS:
Pooled Testing for Massachusetts Schools
On January 8, the Baker-Polito Administration announced that weekly COVID-19 pooled testing will be available within the next month to schools and districts across the Commonwealth, expanding on a rapid testing initiative that began in schools in December.
Comments on MBTA's "Forging Ahead" Proposal
On Monday, October 19, MAPC submitted comments to the the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board and MassDOT Board of Directors on the MBTA's "Forging Ahead" plan.
As our region and Commonwealth continue to reopen amid an uptick in cases, safe transit service must remain a viable option to avoid worsening congestion and to maintain a reliable, COVID-safe way of getting around for essential workers and others who do not drive.
Governor's Reopening Task Force
On Wednesday, March 13, MAPC Deputy Director Rebecca Davis and Government Affairs Director Lizzi Weyant presented recommendations to the Governor’s Reopening Advisory Board, alongside Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll and Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone. These recommendations were made on behalf of a working grouping of MAPC region mayors and managers.
Small Business and Unemployment Response
- Building a New Future Together: We've published a guide to how municipal governments can help their small businesses reopen, recover, and thrive.
- Small Business Response Plans: MAPC is working with Salem, Arlington, Medford, and the Newton-Needham Chamber of Commerce on response plans for assisting small businesses.
- Unemployment Response Plans: MAPC is working with Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Revere, and Somerville on a rapid response plan to identify the needs of unemployed individuals and determine immediate and long-term employment options.
Shared Streets
As we begin to reopen and public health guidelines continue to encourage physical distancing, how can municipalities repurpose street space to accommodate increased demand for walking, biking, and outdoor retail?
MAPC is helping our municipalities answer that question. We're eager to support our cities and towns in thinking through ways to repurpose street space to allow for safe walking and biking, more efficient bus service, and expanded outdoor dining and retail options. Here are some ways we can be of help:
- Regional visioning and planning
- Collective procurement of materials
- Coordination and sharing best practices
- Technical assistance at the local level
Contact Transportation Director Eric Bourassa at ebourassa@mapc.org with questions or ideas.
Municipal Collaboration
MAPC is providing resources to and facilitating conversations among municipal leaders from across the state. We are sharing best practices, resources, templates, and information on how to keep residents safe, healthy, and informed while keeping city and town governments running.
MAPC has served as a conduit of information and communication channel between state and local officials in Greater Boston. We have hosted weekly calls between mayors and managers and Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito. We have run webinars on topics such as homelessness, food security, and small business preservation. And every Sunday, we host a call with scientists, physicians, and epidemiologists so local officials can learn more about the science behind the pandemic and key trendlines that will affect local decision-making.
If you are a mayor, city or town manager, or their designee and you wish to join this group, please contact Lizzi Weyant, MAPC Director of Government Affairs at eweyant@mapc.org and we will immediately place you in the group, add you to the video call group, and direct you to resources.
Funding Distribution
MAPC, in partnership with MassDevelopment, is offering grants up to $250,000 to contract with taxicab, livery, or hackney businesses to meet transportation and delivery needs. Eligible grantees include regional transit agencies, municipal and state agencies, health and human services agencies, and nonprofit organizations across Massachusetts.
The Taxi/Livery Partnership Grant Program will support public transportation and non-emergency medical transportation initiatives; including first mile/last mile connections, fixed-route shuttle service, micro-transit initiatives, incentivizing non-emergency medical transportation programs, food delivery, senior transportation, and other services that taxi, livery, or hackney businesses could provide.
Publications
The COVID-19 Layoff Housing Gap
We analyze the latest Massachusetts unemployment numbers by sector, to understand who's getting laid off and how much assistance they'll need to stay in their homes.
Community and Regional Reponse Plan: Significant Labor Force Disruptions and Unemployment
An action framework for economic security and an evaluation of COVID-related unemployment.
Building a New Future Together
Recommendations for how municipalities can facilitate small business reopening and recovery, and how the Commonwealth can help them through consistent guidelines and requirements.
Engagement in Virtual Meetings
Hosting engaging public meetings over virtual platforms can be tricky. This guide includes tips and tricks for virtual engagement, including what to do before, during, and after your meeting.
Healthcare Support, Supplies, and Isolation & Recovery Centers
MAPC worked with Chelsea and Revere to stand up an isolation facility for ill residents who could not safely remain at home. And we distributed almost $800,000 of urgent financial aid from the state Department of Public Health to cash-strapped local health departments.
Check out a video on the Revere isolation facility below:
Support for Local Healthcare Providers
MAPC is providing support to local hospitals, community health centers, nursing homes, EMS, and local public health departments through its work as the sponsoring organization for the Region 3 Health and Medical Coordinating Coalition (HMCC).
For more information on the work of the Region 3 HMCC, please contact Beth Robert, Region 3 HMCC Program Manager at erobert@mapc.org.
Resources
MAPC is currently compiling lists of various national, state, regional, and local resources for our communities. As we learn more about additional programs, we will be sure to include them in this list.
Webinars
MAPC is hosting occasional webinars to keep our municipal stakeholders and wider audience aware of opportunities, resources, and information related to the COVID-19 response.
We'll be focusing on topics that will be useful to our audience and hope to provide clear, relevant, and timely information. The webinars will complement and respond to the conversations that we're having everyday with people responding to the COVID crisis.
Past Webinars
- Local Permitting During and After COVID-19
- Sharing Our Streets: Creating More Space for Safe Walking, Biking, and Outdoor Retail
- Supporting Small Businesses, Offsetting Unemployment: How Municipalities Can Help
- Essential Trips: A COVID-19 Response Discussion for Local Transit Providers
- Virtual Meeting Best Practices
- The COVID-19 Layoff Housing Gap
- Municipal Finance During the COVID-19 Crisis
- Responding to Food Insecurity During the COVID-19 Crisis
Legislative Updates
Spotlight on Town Meeting, Election, and Budget Process Legislation
We are thrilled that the Governor signed a bill, now Chapter 92 of the Acts of 2020, that will allow increased flexibility for municipalities to address town meeting, municipal elections and budgeting during the public health emergency caused by COVID-19.
A summary of provisions included is below. Division of Local Services has also shared a section by section summary and bulletin providing guidance.
Guidelines for Town Meetings
June 11, 2020 - The Department of Public Health has released sector-specific safety recommendations for Town Meetings. Guidelines include an emphasis on virtual attendance, social distancing at in-person meetings, face coverings, disinfecting, and positive-case notifications.
Older Updates:
Engagement Resources
Small Business and Unemployment Resources
Artist, Freelancer, and Gig Worker Resources
MAPC's Arts & Culture team is compiling resources in response to COVID-19, including resources for artists, links to surveys on the crisis’s economic impact, opportunities to participate in state and federal arts advocacy efforts, and resources for arts-engaged response and recovery.
We’ll continue to update this list as we learn about new resources, webinars, and advocacy opportunities If you have any questions, please contact Interim Arts & Culture Director Annis Sengupta at asengupta@mapc.org.
MAPC Call for Participants “Living Together” Documentary
Mariona Lloreta, in partnership with MAPC, is seeking participation for the Living Together documentary. This short film will feature residents of Metro Boston in order to highlight the experiences of those living in the region and their connection to MetroCommon 2050, Metro Boston’s next regional plan.
NEFA Spatial Justice Grants
Two new Public Art Grant Opportunities are available to Massachusetts artists and artistic collaborators. Grants focus on spatial justice in the time of COVID-19 and feature monthly deadlines from August through October 2020.
- "Collective Imagination for Spatial Justice" awards range from $2,000-5,000.
- "Public Art for Spatial Justice" awards range from $5,000-10,000.
City of Boston Opportunity Fund 4.0
One-time awards range from $500 to $1,000 to enable artists to develop their careers and plan free arts-focused experiences and events throughout the city's neighborhoods. The Fund is currently open and applications are accepted on a rolling basis through FY21.
MassDOT Shared Streets
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Shared Streets and Spaces quick-launch/quick-build grant program will provide grants as small as $5,000 and as large as $300,000 for cities and towns to quickly implement or expand improvements to sidewalks, curbs, streets, on-street parking spaces and off-street parking lots in support of public health, safe mobility, and renewed commerce in their communities. Applications will be accepted June 22 to September 29. Projects must be mostly or completely implemented by October 9, 2020.
USDA Rural Placemaking Challenge
Maximum grants of $250,000 are available from a $1 million fund for planning and technical assistance to foster placemaking activities in rural communities. Planning must directly benefit communities of 50,000 residents or fewer and applicants must demonstrate existing and proposed partnerships with public, private, philanthropic, and community partners. Applications are due by September 10, 2020.
External Resources
The MA COVID Team and local boards of health are working together on a contact tracing program to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in Massachusetts. Contact tracing is an important tool in reducing the spread of the virus. Through the Community Tracing Collaborative, everyone who has tested positive will get a call from the Board of Health or the MA COVID Team, making sure they have the support they need to quarantine and get better, and to find out who they have recent been in contact with.
The MA COVID Team or Board of Health will talk to those contacts, encouraging them to get tested and to stay at home to not spread the virus further. Together with massive testing and hospital care follow up, contact tracing is absolutely essential to stop the virus and get our communities moving again.
The COVID team has assembled a toolkit of materials to spread the word about the importance of contact tracing. Please use the tools below to spread the word about this important initiative through newsletters, flyers and social media. Thank you for your help!
FlyersClick images to download files. |
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Need Assistance?
MAPC is fully open for business on a virtual basis, and we are ready to help cities and towns that are struggling with emergency management or coordinating a municipal response to COVID-19. Reach out if your municipality is struggling with staff capacity: we can provide expertise and ease the pressure on small or overwhelmed municipal governments.
If you need assistance with:
Municipal governance; maintenance of operations; or remote governance issues
Contact Mark Fine, Director of Municipal Collaboration, at mfine@mapc.org.
Public safety and security; emergency management
Contact Amy Reilly, Assistant Director of Municipal Collaboration, at areilly@mapc.org.
Public health issues; direct response to COVID-19
Contact Barry Keppard, Director of Public Health, at bkeppard@mapc.org.
Land use planning; environmental or transportation issues
Contact Mark Racicot, Director of Land Use Planning at mracicot@mapc.org.