Brookline Tightens Town Hall Restrictions Amid Coronavirus Surge

BROOKLINE, MA — Brookline's Health commissioner is "strongly urging" that departments go back to restricting the number of staff permitted in town workplaces, as the infection rates in Boston and Brookline rises.

"With the second surge of COVID-19, I strongly urge everyone to reduce workplace capacity to 50 percent daily," Dr. Swanni Jett said in an email to department heads Wednesday. "The next 30-45 days cases in the US will exponentially increase after Thanksgiving and Xmas/New Year due to many factors. "

Jett said reducing staffing levels in the workplace would help minimize the impact of potential holiday spread of the virus.

"In recent weeks several businesses have closed due to outbreaks and capacity being at 100 percent," he said. "Be proactive and Stop the Spread before it occurs."

The tighter restrictions comes as worsening virus trends across the commonwealth prompted Gov. Charlie Baker to bring back field hospitals and has urged people to stick to household celebrations for Thanksgiving, pointing to the state's Thanksgiving guidelines.

The recent long lines at COVID-19 test sites suggest people may brushing that advice aside. Wait times at some drive-thru sites have been as high as five hours. Tests conducted have hovered around 100,000 on weekdays — Wednesday's daily report showed 97,636 tests and 2,744 new cases.

As of Nov. 18 Brookline has had 678 people test positive for the coronavirus since March and increase of one from Nov. 17. Of those who tested positive, 68 of them have died. Although Brookline's positivity testing rate has been significantly lower than neighboring Boston, which has been in the high risk zone for weeks, Brookline's rate has also been rising.

Read more: Massachusetts Really Wants This Thanksgiving To Be Different

Jenna Fisher is a news reporter for Patch. Got a tip? She can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna). Have a something you'd like posted on the Patch? Here's how .