City of Cambridge and Cambridge Public Health Department Declare Public Health Emergency

In response to the COVID-19 public health crisis in the Commonwealth, the City of Cambridge and the Cambridge Public Health Department (CPHD) today declared that a state of emergency exists in the City of Cambridge related to COVID-19. The emergency declaration will facilitate and expedite the use of resources to protect persons from the impacts of COVID-19.

The City and CPHD also announced an award of $100,000 in emergency relief funding from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to support and expand the capacity of the city’s local public health response. This funding was made available as part of a $5 million statewide infusion of funds to local boards of health, with assurances from Governor Baker that this was a “down payment.”

The funding will be used to ensure that CPHD has sufficient resources to monitor and support COVID-19 activities in the city, including enhanced surveillance, the purchasing of additional PPE (personal protection equipment), overtime for staff and more.

“We are grateful to Governor Charlie Baker and his Administration for making this critical funding available to support public health as our city continues to respond to the challenges of COVID-19,” said Cambridge Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui and City Manager Louis A. DePasquale in a joint statement.

“The Cambridge Public Health Department is on the front lines of this unprecedented public health crisis and these emergency funds are essential to helping contain the spread of COVID-19 in our city,” said Claude A, Jacob, Chief Public Health Officer.“ “We need to mobilize every available resource, financial and human, to keep our community healthy and to prevent further illness.”
"It is our privilege to serve the citizens of the City of Cambridge and do our best to keep them safe during these challenging times," said Assaad J. Sayah, MD Chief Executive Officer, Cambridge Health Alliance, Commissioner of Public Health, City of Cambridge. "These funds are critical to support this mission."

The full emergency declaration can be read here.

The City and the Public Health Department continue to work closely together to identify resources to reinforce the City’s response and preparedness activities. For more information and updates on COVID-19, please visit the City’s dedicated information page: https://www.cambridgema.gov/covid19