5/4/2020 Press Conference on COVID-19 Updates

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On May 4th, Governor Baker gave a press conference to provide a COVID-19 update on Testing, Hospitalizations, PPE, and the Reopening Advisory Board.

Here is the summary.

Testing

  • Yesterday, MA processed almost 16,000 tests throughout the Commonwealth. This brings the total of tests to over 315,000. 

  • In the last seven days, positive test rates have come in under 20% every day. 

Hospitalizations

  • As of yesterday, 3,617 patients were hospitalized due to COVID-19. 

    • This represents about 5% of the cases in MA.

  • COVID-19 hospitalizations have been decreasing in the past several days with very few spikes in new admissions. 

  • The number of patients with COVID-19 in the ICU has also been dropping as well. 

  • Please remember, if you are dealing with a chronic condition or if you believe that you are sick, you should continue to engage or begin to engage with your doctor. If you feel very sick, please go to the emergency room. 

PPE

  • Over the weekend, MA joined with the other northeastern states to procure PPE in a more organized manner to maximize orders and bring in quantities that healthcare, frontline, and other workers will need. 

  • As of yesterday, MA has delivered over 8 million pieces of PPE. 

Reopening Advisory Board

  • Over the last week and through the weekend, the Board virtually engaged with stakeholders from 23 different industry associations and community coalitions. 

    • Together, these groups represent over 100,000 businesses and more than 1.4 million workers from MA. 

    • In these meetings, each group has discussed the key issues that they believe their industry/region will face and the specific guidance they are looking for from the Commonwealth as well as their local governments in order to safely reopen. 

  • The Board also met with the Black Economic Council, the Latino Chamber of Commerce, and the NAACP. In the next few days, the Board plans to meet with representatives from Labor, Gaming, Museums, and Cultural Institutions, and Sports Organizations among others. 

  • The Board has also received over 475 submissions of written testimony that they are now reviewing. 

  • MA will be reopening in phases, as advised by the Federal government when the time is right. This means that the only sectors of the economy that can implement the appropriate health guidance will be opening in the first phase. On May 18th, MA is hopeful that certain types of businesses and workplaces will be able to resume operations under the guidelines established through this process. 

    • Please keep reading these press summaries as more information will be coming in soon about what the reopening phases will look like, where certain industries fit into each phase, general business guidance about social distancing/personal protection/cleaning protocols, and industry-specific guidance for reopening safely for those that require it.