Three cities that have been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic are receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of personal protective equipment, thanks to Woburn-based firm Mascon Medical.
Revere and Chelsea are getting a boost to their coronavirus response efforts with a donation of $400,000 worth of masks, gowns, face shields, electro-static sprayers and other PPE. Both cities have been deemed high-risk by the state in recent weeks, including in the latest weekly community-level data on the pandemic from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
The CEO met with the mayors of both Revere and Chelsea at 12 p.m. Tuesday before making another donation in Lawrence later in the afternoon.
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Revere has reported 3,878 total cases of coronavirus, with 484 confirmed in the past two weeks, according to state data. The city currently has a 7.26% positivity rate. Chelsea reported 4,468 total cases of coronavirus, with 358 in the past 14 days. The city currently has a 7.22% positivity rate.
Mascon Medical, a medical supplier, has been working with local bio-medical companies and government officials to deliver the products needed to control the coronavirus.
Lawrence is also in the red zone, so more PPE was donated there. Mayor Dan Rivera pointed out how hard it is for a city of 90,000 people packed into an area of under seven square miles to practice social distancing.
"What I'm telling people is buy a small turkey, have a small family gathering," Rivera said. "Celebrate today small so you can celebrate big next year."
The company has more than 1.5 million items of personal protective equipment to donate, according to a spokesperson, and will continue to hand out the gear to communities in short supply.
