In the News

Vitalina Williams was an employee at Market Garden in Salem for 11 years, that was infected by the coronavirus. After a week of fighting for her life, the 59-year-old finally succumbed to the deadly infection leaving her husband of 19 years to speak out about what could have been done differently.

“The entire Market Basket community is deeply saddened by this loss,” Griffin said in an email to MassLive on Tuesday. “We offer our support to her family and coworkers during this difficult time. We have made counseling services available to any colleagues or family members in need.”

WASHINGTON — Last night, Representative Seth Moulton (D-MA) sent a letter to Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker formally requesting that the state designate grocery store workers as emergency personnel. The designation would protect workers in the food supply chain by making them eligible for personal protective equipment and priority testing if they suspect they have contracted COVID-19.

The letter comes after Moulton’s constituent, Vitalina Williams, a 59-year-old part-time cashier at Market Basket in Salem and a full-time employee at Walmart in Lynn died from COVID-19.

With new unemployment claims totaling almost 10 million over two weeks and some economists warning that the unemployment rate during the coronavirus pandemic could go higher than it did during the Great Depression, Catholic Charities agencies across the United States are preparing for a flood of new clients requesting help with food, rent and utility bills.

House Armed Services Committee members have demanded answers about the US Navy's abrupt dismissal of the commanding officer of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt after the leak of his letter to superiors calling for help with a coronavirus outbreak.

Capt. Brett Crozier was relieved of his command on Friday, four days after his letter asking for the Navy's help was leaked to the San Francisco Chronicle. In his letter, Crozier urged a "political solution" and "immediate and decisive action" as his crew dealt with the coronavirus outbreak.

MARBLEHEAD — Mitchell Robson found out two years ago that one of the friends he'd made while competing in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington had committed suicide.

"I waited about a month — after the shock of it wore off — to decide I had to do something about this," said the St. John's Prep senior.

BOSTON — The state has only received a fraction of the life-saving ventilators it sought from the federal government, leaving hospitals in the lurch as public health officials brace for an expected surge in COIVID-19 cases.

Gov. Charlie Baker initially requested 1,700 ventilators from the Strategic National Stockpile several weeks ago. The state has only received 100 to date, according to the Department of Public Health.

LYNN — The Lynn Community Health Center has received a $1.288 million stimulus grant as a result of the sweeping coronavirus economic relief bill that passed through Congress last month, according to an announcement from U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.).

Considered the largest economic rescue package in history, the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act earmarked $1.32 billion in immediate additional funding for community health centers, but it wasn’t clear how those funds would be distributed until Monday.

Multiple lawmakers called for Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly to resign or be fired after a massive backlash to Modly’s decision to relieve Capt. Brett Crozier, commander of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, after the latter urged his superiors to evacuate the ship for fear of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) spreading throughout his crew.