Massachusetts Public Health Association
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Check out MPHA’s Executive Director Carlene Pavlos + Louis Elisa & Ron Marlow from the Black Boston COVID-19 Coalition in this piece from NBC Boston on the impact of #COVID19 on communities of color. www.nbcboston.com/investigations/as-mass-reopens-data-shows-people-of-color-face-greater-risk-fro...
The MA Senate is still debating police reform -- it’s not too late to take action! Call you MA Senator ASAP & ask your friends to call theirs w/ this msg: #EndQualifiedImmunity by keeping Section 10 of the police reform/accountability bill UNCHANGED. To find your legislator’s contact info, click here: malegislature.gov/Search/FindMyLegislator | ACLU of Massachusetts
MA needs #PaidSickTimeNow for a safe and healthy recovery. As the Resilience & Recovery Special Cmte in the MA House reviews the Emergency Paid Sick Time bill this week, tell them we must provide this basic protection to ALL workers! Contact your State Rep/Sen today! Click here to find their info: malegislature.gov/search/findmylegislator Raise Up Massachusetts #PaidSickTimeNow
From 7/10 to 8/14, free COVID-19 tests will be available to any MA resident at 8 sites, including Chelsea, Lawrence, & New Bedford, with no symptom requirement. This is a good start, but we need more! “It should go beyond just those places that had a bad surge in the beginning. There are a number of other locations around the state that one could anticipate might be in trouble if there’s a second surge,” said Dr. David Hamer, Prof. of Global Health and Medicine at BU. www.bostonglobe.com/2020/07/08/metro/baker-announces-new-free-coronavirus-testing-8-hard-hit-mass...
Coming soon to 8 Mass. cities: free, on-demand testing for any state resident - The Boston Globe
Governor Charlie Baker on Wednesday announced that the state’s launching a new Stop The Spread campaign to offer free COVID-19 testing in eight communities hit hard by the virus.With details for Lawrence residents and non-residents including appointments and doctors notes
Help stop the tsunami of 20,000 evictions slated to occur in Massachusetts this August when the eviction moratorium expires! Please call your state Rep. and Senator and ask them to cosponsor the Housing Stability Act by the July 10 deadline. For a sample script and contact info, click lynnunited.org/call-in-july-2020.
Today marks the 4 month anniversary of the declaration of emergency.
✅Extend the eviction moratorium.
✅Expand sick time.
✅ Extend the session.
#mapoli
Keeping Workers Safe During COVID & Reopening
July 6 marks Phase 3 of Republican Governor Charlie Baker's reopening plan. That means that movie theaters (??), casinos (??), and gyms (??!?) are all...
actionnetwork.org
Today the @MASENATEGOP blocked debating @MA_Senate S2800 #RacialJustice bill again. After Senator @RyanFattman delayed the bill, Senator @SoniaChangDiaz, co-author of S2800, gave an impassioned speech on why Black and Brown people cannot wait. It's time
#BlackLivesMatter #mapoli
Dr. William Agel (Chief Medical Officer, Cape Cod Healthcare) makes the case for the #MaLeg to pass Emergency Paid Sick Time:
"Now the advice to workers is 'If you're not feeling great, stay home.' A lot of workers have no sick time at all, so how can they stay home?" #MaPoli
While we continue to wait for Beacon Hill to take up Emergency Paid Sick Time legislation, new data shows Black Barnstable County residents contracted COVID-19 at a rate 3x as high as white residents. #PaidSickTimeNow is a matter of racial justice
COVID-19 Data Among Black Cape Residents Underscores Need For Emergency Sick Time
The local disparity mirrors a national trend: people of color are more likely to become infected and to die from the disease than white Americans.
www.wbur.org
Eviction is a public health issue #2: Today, @MAPublicHealth is urging the Housing Committee to move swiftly to pass S2785 + @MassGovernor to support emergency right to counsel for low-income residents. @RepKevinHonan @BrendanCrighton #MassRight2Counsel #mapoli @MassLawReform