Dr. Swannie Jett, Director of Public Health, Brookline, Massachusetts

Brookline was one of the first communities to have an identified case of COVID. The community has pulled together to protect one another from COVID-19.

Brookline is the first town west of Boston, only a mile from Fenway Park

Cases per day rose to a peak in April but have dropped to single digits since May

Early guidelines included automating pedestrian crossings to avoid pressing buttons

Masks were mandated early.  The Public Health department worked with merchants in essential businesses to protect employees as well as customers.

All staff worked on contact tracing to identify hot spots.

The Town’s official web pages, telephone hotlines, and call-out messages keep the public informed.  Volunteer groups have organized supplemental services to help with food, rent, and other needs.

The state keeps a map of where to get tested, with filters to help you identify which ones accept insurance, test uninsured residents, accept people from out of state, etc.

There are clear guidelines on posters all around town, on the entry to every shop and building.

Restaurants offer take-out and some outdoor dining.  Delivery services will transport take-out food and groceries.

With the drop in cases, shops are now open again with cautions in place to protect employees as well as shoppers.  Limits to number of people indoors at one time, plexiglas shields for cashiers, masks required of all.

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This interview is also available as a video on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFoAGT_hZ5A&t=4s

In an interview with Dr. Swannie Jett, Commissioner of Public Health for Brookline, Massachusetts, we learn how a town of 60,000 people is keeping COVID-19 under control. Brookline was one of the first communities hit with cases of COVID in early March, but its profile of cases is a classic bell-shaped curve, with new cases now under five a week. It takes work on the part of the entire community. Dr. Jett and his colleagues in leadership roles in Brookline are working together with citizens and businesses to keep COVID cases to a minimum.

Communications and cooperation are key.

The Town website: http://www.brooklinema.gov

Weekly Coronavirus updates: https://brooklinecovid19.com/

Regular discussions among businesses and town officials carried on the local cable TV channel: http://brooklineinteractive.org

Access to a list of Massachusetts testing sites, with filters to identify whether or not they take insurance, accept people from outside the state, or other key characteristics:

Brookline Chamber of Commerce website