Salem Coronavirus Indoor Event Negative Test Order Expires

Salem MA

01 November, 2021

3:02 PM

Description

SALEM, MA — One of the major coronavirus mitigation measures the Salem Board of Health put in place for the Halloween tourist season expired at the stroke of midnight on Sunday night. The order that required all attendees to have a negative coronavirus test before entering an indoor event with 100 or more guests at a public venue was in place throughout October as a way to help protect event workers and those attending events with people unknowingly carrying the virus — in some cases despite being vaccinated as a "breakthrough" case. The free, rapid testing site set up at the Peabody Essex Museum Connect Building on Essex Street conducted 4,736 tests from Sept. 30 through Oct. 31 with 62 positive cases found. The final five days of testing for large Halloween-themed balls, parties and other events found 24 positives out of 1,458 cases for a test-positive rate of 1.6 percent. While there was some concern in having so many tourists flooding the city from parts of the country with varying vaccination rates, the Salem rapid site positive rate was nearly identical to Friday's statewide rate of 1.73 percent. The two free state "Stop the Spread" testing sites will remain open through at least Dec. 31, 2021. These are the nasal swab, PCR tests that return results in one to two days. A walk-in site at St. Peter's Church Mondays through Thursdays from 9 to 3 p.m. and Fridays from 9 to 2 p.m. The site, which had been open on weekends during October, will now be closed on Saturdays and Sundays. A drive-thru site at Salem High School will remain open from 4 to 8 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. The Salem indoor business mask order the Board of Health authorized in August is set to continue for two more weeks until Nov. 13 — unless extended. The next meeting of the Salem Board of Health is scheduled for Nov. 9. Did you find this article useful? Invite a friend to subscribe to Patch. (Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at [email protected]. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.) More Patch Coverage: Masks Are Back Inside Salem Businesses: What You Need To Know Salem School Committee To Discuss Wider Coronavirus Vaccine Order Salem Public Schools Expands Student Coronavirus Vaccine Order