6/15/2020 Press Conference on COVID-19 Updates

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On June 15th, Governor Baker gave a press conference to provide a COVID-19 update on Testing, Hospitalizations, Reopening, New COVID-19 Pop-Up Testing Sites, and the Command Center.

Here is the summary.

Testing

  • Yesterday, over 9,000 tests were reported with around 500 of them confirmed positive.

  • As of yesterday, over 700,000 people have been tested across MA. 

    • The average positive test rate is down to about 3%. This is a 90% reduction in the number of positive tests since April 15th.

Hospitalizations

  • There are currently around 1,000  people hospitalized due to COVID-19. 

    • This shows nearly a 70% reduction since the middle of April.

Reopening

  • We are about a week into Phase II of the reopening. While the progress has looked encouraging, please remember that the virus is still here and we need to continue to wear face coverings, practice good self-hygiene, distancing, monitoring for symptoms, and getting tested when appropriate. 

New COVID-19 Pop-Up Testing Sites

  • The Administration will be launching 50+ pop-up COVID-19 testing sites throughout the Commonwealth for individuals who have recently participated in large gatherings. These free testing sites will be available on Wednesday, June 17th, and Thursday, June 18th. 

    • The administration is urging anyone who has attended a large gathering over the last two weeks to get tested at one of these sites. 

    • Test results will be provided to each participant confidentially. Please get tested as it is free and you can help stop the spread.

    • Full list of testing sites will be available at mass.gov/gettested

Command Center

  • MA has increased its testing capacity to 30,000 tests per day with 45 labs processing tests. 

  • The Administration submitted their testing strategy plan to the federal government a few weeks ago to further expand testing. The plan includes: 

    • Increasing lab capacity to 45,000 by the end of July.

    • Reducing and maintaining a positive test rate of less than 5%.

    • Ensuring on-demand access to testing for all symptomatic individuals and their close contacts.

    • Increasing access to testing for vulnerable and high-risk populations.

    • Building and testing infrastructure to support a potential second surge.

    • Modernizing our public technology infrastructure to provide real-time data on cases and testing.

    • Operating best in class contact tracing. 

  • Testing is a critical part to stop the spread of the virus. The other important parts continue to be social distancing, face coverings, hand washing, and sanitizing. 

  • Starting today, the Command Center will be providing the total number of tests that have been conducted in addition to the total number of people tested.