Published March 25, 2020

LYNNFIELD — There are six people in town who have been diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus, the Emergency Management Team announced on Monday.

The town cannot release any information about the six people who are sick with COVID-19, the illness associated with the novel coronavirus, due to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). As of Monday morning, there are 777 cases of COVID-19 in the state, including 73 people in Essex County. According to the State House News Service, 71 patients had been hospitalized with COVID-19 and five people have died because of the virus as of Monday.

During a press conference on Monday, Gov. Charlie Baker advised people to avoid unnecessary interactions with others where the virus can be spread, and directed the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to issue social distancing and self-isolation guidelines for essential businesses that will remain open and the public. That is especially true for people over 70 years old or people with underlying health conditions, the governor said.

Baker also said that his administration has made progress in securing some additional personal protective equipment for health care workers who had reported having to reuse masks and other gear. The governor said that he has had conversations with federal officials in which “they’ve made commitments” for additional equipment from the federal stockpile, but he said the state has also successfully put in “confirmed orders” through U.S.-based manufacturers for “millions” of masks and swabs.

“Confirmed, but we need to actually see them get delivered,” Baker said.

The state is also working with organizations to source equipment from manufacturers in other parts of the world.

Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders, who is leading the state’s day-to-day response to the coronavirus outbreak, said that so far hospitals have not identified any critical shortages of pharmaceuticals, but that it was an area being monitored “very, very closely.”

Sudders said the state is working with private labs to make sure they’re reporting not just confirmed cases, but total number of samples tested.

For more information about COVID-19, visit https://coronavirus-response-lynnfield-ma-dgl-ssu.hub.arcgis.com/.

— The State House News Service contributed to this report