Video: Update for Monday, March 30

Transcript:
Good evening Melrose, this is your Mayor Paul Brodeur.

On Friday I indicated that the Department of Public Health had requested that municipalities don’t share the number of confirmed positive cases with the general public.  As it turns out this was merely a request and not a directive. I can now share with you that on Friday March 27, Melrose had 12  confirmed cases, on Saturday we had 17, Sunday we had 22 and as of today we have 25.

In each of these cases our City nurses are working 7 days  a week to follow up with each patient and their direct contacts.

Part of the reason public health officials have been reticent to share community specific information with the public is that some individuals have used this information to speculate on who may be infected or discriminate against groups unfairly blamed for the spread of this pandemic, specifically Asian Americans.

I want to reiterate something that I and other community leaders in Melrose have repeated frequently in the past several days: Melrose is one community open to all.

The virus does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, gender identity, orientation, income, or nation of origin. There is no one group who is responsible for the cause of this pandemic. Asian Americans in our community need our support as some unfairly blame them for COVID-19. I invite each of you to reflect on how we as a community can support each other and celebrate our diversity through this trying time.

Lastly, I need to share some bad news. As you may have heard by now one of our DPW employees has been diagnosed with COVID-19. The employee is hospitalized and his condition is serious. I ask that each of you keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Thank you and goodnight.