With concerns growing about the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19, and with Provincetown fighting a localized surge of cases among mostly vaccinated people, you might see more people voluntarily wearing masks in the weeks ahead. “We are seeing a slight uptick,” Chatham Health and Natural Resources Director Robert Duncanson told the health board this week. The town saw two new cases of COVID-19 in ...

CHATHAM — Though it might not be as grand as usual, the town will have a real, in-person parade to mark Independence Day this summer. On a 4-1 vote Tuesday, the select board followed the advice of the parade committee and gave the event its go-ahead. The board also voted to allow a fireworks display on Veterans Field on Thursday, July 1. The parade will happen on July 3, since July 4 falls on ...

The usual scramble ahead of the summer season will be a bit more frantic this year. On Monday, Gov. Charlie Baker announced that, as of May 29 – the Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend – all pandemic-related restrictions on businesses and public gatherings will be lifted. The news, while joyful, provides less than two weeks for restaurant owners, retailers, town officials and civic groups to adjust their plan...

HARWICH — Of the 10 restaurants that applied to the selectmen for outdoor dining under the state’s emergency provisions for restaurants, only one – The Port Restaurant and Bar – was denied. Selectmen made the decision based on general disturbances to the neighborhood. Last Tuesday the board OK'd outdoor table service licenses for nine restaurants that received approval as part of the commonwealth’s state of...

HARWICH — The past year has been an emotional one, with feelings of uncertainty and isolation tempered by opportunities for creativity, productivity and reflection. In a new public art project, the community center is encouraging people to get creative in expressing the town’s collective emotions from the past year. “We wanted to do something where we could still be interacting with the members of our commun...

While all people over the age of 16 are now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, and while case numbers are trending down again, officials are warning that even fully vaccinated people are still able to contract the disease. On Monday afternoon, Broad Reach Healthcare President and CEO Bill Bogdanovich notified residents and family members that a staff member at the Victorian assisted living center had test...

While more and more people are getting COVID-19 vaccinations each day, Barnstable County is still struggling with a surge of cases linked to the Mid Cape. The county’s 14-day incidence rate, expressed as cases per 100,000 people, stands at 40.2, pushed high by the town of Barnstable’s rate of 78.5 cases. On the Lower Cape, the rate stands at 27 cases per 100,000 in Chatham, 31.8 cases in Harwich and 22.9 cases...

HARWICH — The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted everyone in different ways. For many people, the stay-at-home and reduced socialization directives have created a sheltered atmosphere. But not for Kate Seeley. Seeley is using her time to assist people struggling to obtain COVID-19 vaccine appointments. The West Harwich resident said she took a leave of absence from her job at the Outer Cape Health Service Women...

Despite the wider availability of vaccines, COVID-19 cases on Cape Cod are surging ahead of the state average. That has public health officials at all levels of government pleading with the public to continue wearing masks, avoiding crowds and taking other necessary precautions. Led by a “significant COVID-19 outbreak” in Barnstable and Yarmouth, the Cape registered a 5.59 percent two-week positivity rate as o...

Over the past year, feeling anxious and depressed has almost become part of the daily routine. But for more and more people, those feelings are getting in the way of day-to-day living. State Senator Julian Cyr, D–Truro, has been fully immersed in the region’s response to the pandemic since the beginning, attending countless meetings and helping to organize the Cape Cod COVID Response Task Force. When the first...

Officials Wonder If Mid-Cape Surge Linked To P.1 Variant There was a time when “flattening the curve” was a good thing. But in a time when COVID-19 cases had been trending down, plateauing numbers have public health officials worried. As of Tuesday afternoon, the Barnstable County case count had increased by 94 cases over Monday’s figure, Chatham Health and Natural Resources Director Robert Duncanson told t...

CHATHAM — Some have argued that a pandemic is the wrong time for the town to take on a big-ticket capital project like building a new senior center. On Tuesday, the town's project team and the select board argued that, in fact, the timing couldn’t be better. The board voted unanimously to bring a request for $8,395,555 to build a new council on aging on a parcel of donated land at 1610 Main St., West C...

This week’s troubling pandemic news is that the P.1 variant, which spreads more easily and quickly than other strains of COVID-19, has been detected on Cape Cod. The good news is that the same preventative measures in place since the start of the pandemic – the use of face masks, social distancing and other precautions – are the best defense against the new variant, public health officials say. Sometimes...

On Feb. 5, 2020, The Chronicle’s health page revealed that 362 people globally had died as the result of a new virus that had emerged in Wuhan, China. It quoted a local health official who said, “People living on the Cape do not need to be concerned about getting the coronavirus at this time.” More than a year later, the global death toll has topped 2.58 million, including more than 400 Cape Codders. The pan...

With COVID-19 case numbers continuing to decline, the new single-dose vaccine helping to improve availability, and new CDC guidelines allowing vaccinated people more freedom to meet with friends in person, one would think all the pandemic-related headlines were all positive this week. But the state’s beleaguered online registration system continues to frustrate those seeking to sign up for a vaccine appo...

NORTH CHATHAM – When the pandemic mandated that Liberty Commons Nursing Home lock all its doors in order to funnel all staff and visitors through the front entrance, where they were screened for symptoms, people began walking from the lower parking lot up a hill to the front door. In normal times, they'd use other, more conveniently located entrances. “It was fine all summer,” Broad Reach President and CEO Bil...