PROVINCETOWN — After almost 10 years in the town health dept., including seven as health director, Morgan Clark is leaving town government. She’s going back to work for one of […]
Health & Healthcare
AGING IN PLACE
Home Health Care Shortage ‘Critical’ on Outer Cape
Low wages and lack of workers push the limits
WELLFLEET — A few years back, when Geovana Pinheiro worked as a certified nursing assistant (CNA) for a client in Wellfleet, she commuted down Cape from Centerville, where she lives. […]
COVID-19
Wellfleet Reinstates Mask Order Following Cluster of Cases
The case count, at 31, has doubled since last week
WELLFLEET — Less than one week after the board of health issued a “code red” mask order, the number of Covid-19 cases in town has doubled. There were 31 active […]
PANDEMIC
Outer Cape’s Covid Infection Rates Remain Low
Those who got the Pfizer vaccine and are over 65, or at risk, can now get boosters
PROVINCETOWN — Three months after a steep rise in Covid-19 cases tied to Provincetown’s 4th of July weekend crowds, the number of cases on the Outer Cape is low compared […]
PREVENTION
To Stop Domestic Violence, ‘Just Keep Talking About It’
Advocates raise voices against the silence of abuse
Shirley Smith, co-founder of the Outer Cape Committee Against Domestic Abuse (OCCADA), was in court helping a woman who had asked the judge to order additional child support from her […]
THE EASTHAM RAID
DMT, a Powerful Hallucinogen, Makes a Rare Appearance Here
It’s ‘not your garden variety psychedelic,’ researchers say
EASTHAM — As people trickled out of the Eastham Public Library on Tuesday following a historical commission meeting, several could be overheard discussing the discovery last week by local police of […]
NOT SO RAPID
As Delta Wanes, So Do Easy Testing Options
Still, the choices appear to provide ‘an early warning system’
PROVINCETOWN — The Delta variant of Covid-19 arrived in Provincetown like a hurricane. There was fear, economic devastation, a news camera on every corner, even a catchy name: the Provincetown […]
PANDEMIC
Provincetown Tells Workers: Get Vaccinated or Be Tested
Eastham will also require tests of unvaccinated staff
PROVINCETOWN — Town Manager Alex Morse announced a new health policy for town employees on Monday: either Covid-19 vaccination or weekly virus testing will be required. The policy will take […]
EMERGENCY RESPONSE
Unpacking an Outer Cape ‘Stigma’ Against Calling 911
Not seeking help or refusing transport to the hospital can have dire consequences
TRURO — “It never occurred to me to call 911,” said Millie, recalling her medical emergency in April. “Having a ‘stroke’ — it wasn’t in my vocabulary of things that could […]
THE ADDICTION EPIDEMIC
Kim Powers Fights the Cape’s Overdose Crisis on Her Own
Her personal mobile service reaches drug users with life-saving help
Kim Powers is a one-woman drug-addiction harm reduction brigade. She is waging a solitary campaign to stem the rising tide of drug overdoses and deaths on Cape Cod and the […]
CHILDREN'S HEALTH
Two Bills Aim to Boost Child Immunizations
Low vaccination rates in Wellfleet, Eastham sway Peake and Cyr
There is not yet a Covid-19 vaccine for children under 12. But public awareness of the importance of vaccination has cast the Outer Cape’s low childhood immunization rates in a […]
BACK TO SCHOOL
Masks Likely to Be Required at Schools on Outer Cape
With no remote option, all students will be back in classrooms this fall
As vaccination rates ramped up last spring and the daily count of Covid-19 cases came down, many hoped this fall’s start of school could feel more like normal. That no […]
CASE LOAD
Truro Sees a Jump in Covid-19 Cases and Takes Action
The town reinstates a mask mandate both indoors and outdoors in crowds
TRURO — New Covid-19 infections here, some connected to the July Provincetown cluster, have led officials and business owners to reinstate pandemic protocols. At the beginning of July, Truro had […]
BREAKTHROUGH
Covid Cluster Puts Provincetown on the Bleeding Edge
By some measures, the outbreak peaked here on July 19
PROVINCETOWN — The entire nation got a new universal indoor masking advisory last week, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention put Provincetown squarely in the middle of their […]
IMMUNITY
Local Businesses, Health Care Providers Resist Requiring Vaccine
Experts agree on the vaccines’ effectiveness, but not on mandates
Editor’s note: This story has been updated with new information since its publication in the Aug. 5 print edition. PROVINCETOWN — Since May, Patrick Patrick, head of the Provincetown Chamber […]
