Four years later, leaders reflect on COVID’s impact

Four years ago today, on March 13, 2020, Marblehead students left school as a deadly
pandemic began to shut down the world and change lives forever. They didn’t return to
classrooms for months.

On this anniversary, the Current spoke with education, service, business and faith leaders
around town, asking them to reflect on how COVID affected Marblehead and whether those
effects are still being felt today.

“The impact on our town was huge, first adjusting to the lockdown and the closing of schools,”
said Board of Health Chair Helaine Hazlett. “The businesses which were determined non-
essential were closed for several months. The markets and pharmacies were essential and had
to conduct their business while protecting their employees and customers.”

The BOH moved its monthly meetings to weekly ones to deal with the ever-changing information coming from the Centers for Disease Control and National Institutes of Health.

“The Board of Health was learning in real time, continually sharing the information with the citizens of Marblehead as decisions were received regarding masking, vaccines and other precautions to protect against the virus,” Hazlett said.

Hazlett added the town also did its best to address the mental health crisis triggered by the pandemic, creating the Mental Health Task Force in early 2021. The group of volunteer therapists, psychologists, nurses and educators still holds programs and workshops, and its website (marbleheadcares.org)
lists resources.

Education

Arguably, COVID’s biggest impact was on the town’s schools, including staff, more than 2,500
students and their families.

“Our students and staff had to adjust in so many ways,” said Assistant Superintendent Julia
Ferreira. “From hybrid and virtual learning to coming back into schools staying 6 feet apart and
wearing masks. Safety is always a number one priority for us.”

When asked what lessons the district learned during COVID, Ferreira answered, “The pandemic
forced us to educate students through new methods. I am so grateful for our amazing teachers
who learned new ways to engage our learners to help prevent significant learning loss.”
School Committee Chair Sarah Fox emphasized other important lessons.

“COVID really woke everyone up to how important social-emotional health is,” she said. “If
students are not emotionally well, they can not access the curriculum and learn. We have a lot
of work to do still but at least the conversation has started in a meaningful way.”

Fox added, “… I saw firsthand how deferred maintenance and investments in our technology
infrastructure really put us at a disadvantage. Because of the continued budget constraints our
schools have faced for over a decade, investments in technology were often the thing cut from
budgets to keep staff in front of kids, which is always vital. When COVID hit, many districts were
able to use the ESSER and other COVID-related funds to combat learning loss and add other
programs whereas we needed to use the majority of the funds to update our technology
infrastructure and devices so we could even allow students and staff to have access to each
other and curriculum.

First responders

Police Chief Dennis King, who was with the Salem police at the height of COVID, said officers
didn’t have the benefit of remote work.

“Police officers still came to work every day, every shift, and provided services to their
communities,” he said.

According to King, the pandemic didn’t necessarily change any protocols or policies.
“Policies and protocols were already in place regarding infectious disease; it was just a matter of
adapting to the magnitude of cases,” he said.

The elderly

The elderly were hit especially hard by the pandemic, with isolation and food insecurity being
two of the biggest challenges, according to Council on Aging Director Lisa Hooper.

“Many seniors living alone, or even in an assisted living facility, nursing home or attending an
adult day program, were unable to see each other and socialize for a very long period of time,”
she said. “The lack of stimulation negatively impacts any at any age and caused those with
early dementia to decline more rapidly. Seniors who lived alone had no support system.”

Businesses

Of course, COVID deeply impacted local businesses, and some restaurants closed during those
early years.

Still, Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Katherine Koch is proud of the local business
community.

“I think most of our Marblehead businesses pivoted well, offering takeout and curbside pickup
options, getting more creative with marketing and promotion, offering buy-now, use-later type of
strategies,” she said.

Koch added, “I think what kept many of our businesses alive is the strong support that our
community shows in their commitment to shopping local, being mindful of the smaller
businesses, and maintaining those relationships.”

Community spirit

As with many tragedies, COVID often brought out the best in Marblehead residents and leaders.
“While the world and national news was distressing and highlighted our fractures, this town
grabbed an N95 and marched for George Floyd, amassing the largest single gathering in Marblehead history,” remembered Rev. Jim Bixby, leader of the Marblehead Ministerial Association and Marblehead Racial Justice Team.

He continued, “Inclusion and community bundling became way harder, but our motivation to do
so also grew. Many churches, businesses and small groups built infrastructure for online
communication, commerce, even worship. Our choir learned how to record four-part choral
songs through emailing and mixing them on a MacBook.”

Bixby added, “That’s one of the things I take away now: how to be more proactive and
imaginative.”

That community spirit was especially powerful at the COA, Hooper said.

“It’s always amazing that no matter how dire the circumstance is, most people will jump in and
do whatever it takes to help their neighbor,” she said.

Hooper offered several examples: The COA did not have supplies of masks, gloves or hand sanitizer to offer volunteers grocery shopping for seniors, but each week, more than 30 people would go to Crosby’s.
Veterans Agent Dave Rodgers drove many veterans to Bedford and Gloucester for vaccines.

From March 2020 through July 2021, the COA served 7,750 grab-and-go meals, delivered
1,177 food pantry bags, 435 boxes of produce supplied by the Marblehead Community Charter
Public School, 551 Boston Food Bank bags of groceries, more than 200 shelf-stable food bags
donated by the Marblehead Female Humane Society and many holiday gifs, wreaths and
meals.

“If you ask anyone here, they would say ‘We’d do it all over again,’” Hooper said.