Mayor Arrigo calls on residents to help keep our parks open, comply with mask and social distancing requirements to avoid shutdownsÂ
Friday, August 14, 2020 — The City of Revere’s Parks and Recreation department will begin a safety monitoring program at all city-owned playgrounds and recreational facilities this weekend in an effort to encourage residents to comply with State mandates on masking and social distancing. Recreation staff will visit all 16 sites under its purview to monitor compliance, provide masks to residents, and engage in conversations about Covid-19 safe practices. The effort comes in response to several documented reports of individuals gathered in groups at playgrounds or engaging in pick-up games without masks.
“I’m calling on our residents to help us keep our parks open,†Mayor Arrigo said. “We continue to see some concerning trends in our case data in the city of Revere, and we can’t responsibly allow large groups to be gathering without masks on our playgrounds, on courts and fields in the middle of a pandemic. The majority of our residents have responded with great compliance in the past, and I’m asking them to do it again to help us keep Revere open.â€
As of August 14, the Revere Board of Health has been notified by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health of 2,188 positive and probable cases of COVID-19 in the City of Revere. The City is averaging 13.9 new cases a day. The City’s 14-day positivity rate is 5.5%, more than three times the state average.
“There’s no one who wants to keep our parks’ facilities open more than I do. We understand how important it is for our families and young people to get outside, but we’ve got to do it safely to protect our entire community,†said Michael Hinojosa, Director of Parks and Recreation for the City of Revere.
In addition to monitoring parks and playgrounds for COVID safety, Parks and Recreation staff will continue the ramped up cleaning and sanitizing protocols that began last weekend.
