An Open Letter to Monica Bharel, MD, MPH, Commissioner of Public Health
December 4, 2020
To: Monica Bharel, MD, MPH, Commissioner of Public Health
c/o Dr. Edward Bernstein, Public Health Council
Dear Commissioner Bharel,
In the Commonwealth, as well as across the nation, the valuable expertise of public health is being ignored, as people heedlessly expose themselves and others to COVID-19.
Alert: A Public Health Crisis Threatens Lives of Elderly & Disabled

To Avert COVID-19 Outbreaks in Elderly Housing

Tenants in housing facilities for elderly and disabled persons are at elevated risk for serious outcomes or death from COVID because their age and other health conditions make them highly vulnerable.
Prevention is the best protection. But in many housing developments, neither management or tenants enforce or follow the best practice protocols for protection and mitigation.
The potential for a COVID disaster affecting elderly and disabled tenants has escalated because of the increased level of infection in many Massachusetts communities.
- Read more about To Avert COVID-19 Outbreaks in Elderly Housing
- Log in to post comments
A Home Safe from COVID

- Read more about A Home Safe from COVID
- Log in to post comments
Why Don’t We Follow Public Health Science?
We know how to protect our housing communities from COVID-19, an infection that can devastate a housing development as it has already devastated nursing homes. But we aren’t following the essentials of public health in housing for the elderly and disabled, or in many other settings.
- Read more about Why Don’t We Follow Public Health Science?
- Log in to post comments
Working Together Against COVID-19 in Multifamily Housing
We must work together to mitigate—to reduce the harm, illness and deaths—that COVID-19 threatens to bring to our housing community. Our success depends on a coordinated effort where everyone works together: landlord/housing authority, management, custodians, social workers, and tenants.
Gossip & Bullying in the Time of COVID
Bonny Zeh, co-founder of the Stop Bullying Coalition, shares her observations and ideas. Updated 24 October—JH
Gossip and bullying not only target people in public and subsidized housing but also inhibit the essential collaboration needed to protect everyone from COVID. Gossip and bullying together are a contagious social disease that destroys trust and drives us apart from each other. Together, we can find a way to overcome these barriers so all of us can survive this plague.
- Read more about Gossip & Bullying in the Time of COVID
- Log in to post comments
Learning Origami During COVID

Origami is a great, inexpensive hobby. I've been folding seriously since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. I fold at the high intermediate level. My models are nice enough that I can gift them. I like origami because I can give someone something nice and I don't worry about what happens to it. After all, it's just paper... and I can replace it fairly quickly.
- Read more about Learning Origami During COVID
- Log in to post comments
The Little Red Hen Method for Fighting COVID

- Read more about The Little Red Hen Method for Fighting COVID
- Log in to post comments
Information: Empowered With, Fearful Without

- Read more about Information: Empowered With, Fearful Without
- Log in to post comments