Talk of the Commonwealth

Worcester Mayor Joe Petty joins us every Wednesday morning at 7:00am for our weekly #WorcesterWednesday chat. Today, we take stock of where we are in terms of the Coronavirus and how the City continues to run and perform all the normal functions of a major City during the middle of a pandemic.

Learn more about COVID-19 in Worcester here: www.worcesterma.gov/coronavirus

Call the hotline at 508-799-1019

Dr. Jennifer LaBonte of Saint Vincent Medical Group gives us advice on how to thrive, both mentally and physically, while we're all stuck at home during this quarantine.

BBB of Central New England President and CEO Nancy Cahalen tells us how scammers are using the COVID-19 crisis to not only target individuals, but also businesses.

Tuesday, April 7th, 2020

Learn more at https://www.bbb.org/local-bbb/bbb-serving-central-and-western-ma-and-northeastern-ct

Worcester City Manager Ed Augustus joins us to talk about how the City has been preparing for the coming surge of #Coronavirus cases that's expected to peak in mid-April. He tells us that as of now we have enough hospital beds and ventilators, and have even created a 250-bed field hospital at the DCU Center for potential overflow patients.

Dr. Michael Hirsh, the COVID-19 medical lead for the City of Worcester, joins us to talk about where we are in fighting the Coronavirus as we begin a critical few week stretch, during which we expect to see a surge in COVID cases.

Because things are changing so rapidly, we are time-stamping our COVID-19 interviews. This conversation took place at 6:45am on April 6th, 2020.

Learn more: http://www.worcesterma.gov/coronavirus

The SBA provides low-interest disaster loans to help businesses and recover from disasters, in this instance COVID-19. The CARES Act that was signed into law contains $376 billion in relief for American workers and small businesses.

You can take advantage of these resources here: www.sba.gov/funding-programs/disaster-assistance

We talk to Worcester Red Sox President Dr. Charles Steinberg about the pause of construction at Polar Park, Their donation to healthcare workers, Staying connected during this crisis, and as always, the music of baseball.

Hear the WooSox Show everyThursday morning from 9-10am on the Radio Worcester Network (Flagship: AM-830 WCRN).

Original show aired on Thursday, April 2nd, 2020

Fitchburg City Councilor Sam Squailia joined us to talk about the Landry Arena in Fitchburg getting prepared as a temporary morgue. The conversion of the arena is part the effort to ensure enough capacity for mortuary services as more people die in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Read More: https://www.telegram.com/news/20200401/covid-19-response-landry-arena-in-fitchburg-to-be-mortuary

Photo from Ashley Green of the T&G

As we continue to stay quarantined and try to flatten the curve, we know that the wave is going to hit, all we can do is be as prepared as possible. Mayor Joe Petty came on with us to talk about all the things that the City is doing to blunt this thing, and what steps we are taking to make sure everyone gets the care they need.

Learn more at www.worcesterma.gov/coronavirus

This conversation took place on Wednesday, April 1st, 2020.

We're now in April and COVID-19 is bearing down on us, epidemiologists believe the wave is coming in the next few weeks, and we have to be ready when it hits. What we do right now makes all the difference.

So, we had Congressman Jim McGovern on the show to talk about how we are fighting the virus right now, and what we are doing to prepare ourselves for when the worst of it comes.

This conversation took place on Wednesday, April 1st, 2020.