Page 4 THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2021 Saugus High Varsity Hockey donates to Toys for Tots J eff “Pao” Paolini for the last 11 years has been hosting a Christmas Party fundraiser for “Toys for Tots.” The entrance fee for this gathering is a toy for the unfortunate kids that need help during the holiday time. Jeff has always been a proud Saugus High School (SHS) hockey alumnus who donates his time and continues giving back to the Saugus hockey community by coaching the fall hockey league for many years alongside of Saugus Board of Selectmen Chair Anthony “Cogs” Cogliano, who is also a proud SHS hockey alum. This year’s Saugus hockey captains are Massimino Ventre, Ryan Ragucci, Jason Caron and Chris Regnetta, who have asked their teammates to participate, give back and donate to this worthy cause. They are great leaders and great kids. Pictured from left to right: Christmas party/fundraiser host Jeff Paolini and the Saugus Sachems Varsity Hockey Team Captains: Ryan Ragucci, Jason Caron and Massimino Ventre. (Courtesy photo) The Saugus hockey team had their opening day game this past Saturday at the Essex Sports Center, enjoying a win against the Lynn Jets, 8-2, to start their season. The COVID-19 Update Town reports 182 newly confirmed cases over the past week By Mark E. Vogler S augus continues to see a significant spike in the number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases, prompting health officials to call on residents to exercise caution when they are in a crowd – either inside buildings or outside. Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree yesterday (Thursday, Dec. 16) reported there were 182 new cases and one additional death over the last seven days. That brings the total of COVID-19 cases and deaths to 5,783 and 85, respectively, since March of last year when the state Department of Public Health began keeping statistics on how the global pandemic is affecting cities and towns across Massachusetts. “Our hearts and prayers go out to those families affected by this health pandemic,” Crabtree said. The town has reported 514 new COVID-19 cases since Nov. 22. At last week’s (Dec. 6) Board of Health meeting, which was conducted via Zoom teleconferencing because of COVID-19 concerns, town Public Health Nurse Teresa Riley-Singh noted that there were already 104 COVID-19 cases through the first six days of the month. By comparison, Riley-Singh said there were 248 COVID-19 cases confirmed during the first week of December last year. There were 369 new cases reported last month, compared to 443 cases in November of last year, she said. “We see pretty high numbers around this time,” Riley-Singh said. “People are more out and about, socializing, going out to eat and having functions and shopping. We can attribute the high numbers to that,” she said. With the holidays approaching, Riley-Singh called for Saugus residents to remain vigilant and take precautions to protect themselves from the killer disease. “I think we’re all frustrated with COVID,” she said. “But right now is not the time to lax our behavior… We’re in the middle of a holiday season. We’re in the middle of a respiratory season … flu season. Let’s all be vigilant … I do encourage people to continue to wear masks when they’re in places where they don’t know peoples’ vaccine status – [and in crowded areas like] stores, restaurants, holiday gatherings, large gatherings,” she said. “I just think the best protection for everyone right now is wearing those masks when you are indoors and in crowded places. We all have COVID fatigue. We need to continue to be vigilant.” Public Health Director John R. Fralick III said he agrees that town residents need to take measures to protect themselves. “It’s still here and it’s something that’s going to be prevalent through the course of the foreseeable future,” Fralick said. COVID-19 | SEE PAGE 5
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