6/11/2020 Press Conference on COVID-19 Updates

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On June 11th, Governor Baker gave a press conference to provide a COVID-19 update on Testing, Hospitalizations, Reopening, The Greater Boston Food Bank, and the Shared Streets and Spaces Emergency Grant Program.

Here is the summary.

Testing

  • Yesterday, over 10,000 tests were reported with only 267 new cases confirmed positive.

  • As of yesterday, MA has conducted over 660,000 tests.

    • The average positive test rate is down to 4.2%. 

Hospitalizations

  • There are currently around 1,386 people hospitalized due to COVID-19. 

Reopening

  • This past Monday was Phase II of MA’s reopening program. Please see more information here.

  • The Administration is seeing promising trends with public health data currently, and advancing into further phases will depend on continued positive trends. 

Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB)

  • Governor Baker gave his press conference at the Greater Boston Food Bank today. 

  • Food security is a matter that the Administration has been working diligently to address before the pandemic, but it is, unfortunately, a matter that was heightened due to it. 

  • Last year, the GBFB distributed over 68 million pounds of food across a wide area from the New Hampshire border to the Cape Cod Islands and the South Coast. 

  • The Administration put together a Food Security Task Force earlier this spring. 

    • The Task Force was established to provide more access to food assistance during COVID-19. 

  • One of the events between now and last month was the new $36 million food security infrastructure grant program to provide individuals and families with access to fresh and local food. 

    • The Administration has opened applications for that grant program. The program is open to organizations that are part of the MA local food system including production, processing, distribution, and community food organizations. 

    • The funding is part of a broader $56 million investment the Administration announced last month, as part of their work to implement the recommendations of the food security task force.

    • Applications will be evaluated on a rolling basis through September 15, 2020. Please see more information here.

  • The GBFB has done a great job of reworking the way they package and distribute food to families. They have created packaging that in many cases carry as much as a week’s worth of fresh fruits and vegetables, dry goods, and other kinds of protein. 

Shared Streets and Spaces Emergency Grant Program

  • This is a new initiative, coordinated through the efforts of the team at MassDOT, to help small businesses and communities recover as we move through the state’s reopening process. 

  • This initiative is a total of $5 million and it will be available directly to municipalities. 

    • Will provide grants as small as $5,000 and as big as $300,000 for municipalities to quickly launch or expand improvements to sidewalks, curbs, streets, on-street parking spaces, and off-street parking lots.

    • This is to support small businesses to repurpose their sidewalks, parking spaces, etc. to support street retail and/or dining. 

  • MassDOT will be supporting municipalities as these projects move ahead. The Bar Foundation will also be providing free technical assistance to municipal officials and help them fill out their applications and walk them through this process.

  • The website is coming soon and applications will be available on June 22nd.