8/20/2020 Press Conference on COVID-19 Updates
/On August 20th, Governor Baker gave a press conference to provide a COVID-19 update on Testing, Hospitalizations, Supporting School Districts in the Fall, the ‘Stop the Spread’ Program, and the Department of Public Health’s System Upgrade.
Here is the summary.
Testing
Yesterday, there were 19,500 individuals tested for COVID-19 with 262 new positive cases reported.
The seven day average for positive test rates is about 1.4%.
Please continue to wear face coverings, practice good handwashing/hygiene, disinfect surfaces, social distance, and call your doctor if you do not feel well. Please do not share food, drinks, or utensils with anyone.
Please find the interactive data map at mass.gov/covidmap to see how COVID-19 impacts each community in the Commonwealth.
The new weekly data indicates that 16 communities have moved from moderate to low-risk status.
Hospitalizations
As of yesterday, there are currently just over 365 individuals hospitalized as a result of COVID-19, and 66 of those individuals are in the ICU.
Please do not hesitate to contact your health care provider about any concerns you may have, COVID-19 related or not. Telehealth is currently a covered benefit in MA that will be extended to cover all residents until at least the end of the calendar year.
Supporting School Districts in the Fall
School districts were asked to submit a plan for online learning, hybrid learning, and in-person learning for the fall. Over the past few weeks, school districts have submitted their plans for September.
As of yesterday, of the 371 public school districts, more than 70% indicated that they plan to offer a hybrid or fully in-person learning model. Approximately 30% reported with plans that were fully remote.
To help schools get ready for the fall, the Administration has provided comprehensive, science-based plans from transportation to classroom configuration.
The state has also made nearly $1 billion available in federal funds on top of a modest increase in permanent funding with respect to the state’s K-12 funding program, as well as level funding on unrestricted general government aid to cities and towns.
The Administration has also made available new COVID-19 testing tools that every school in the Commonwealth will have access to.
The state will implement a rapid response testing program for K-12 schools across MA. This program will be designed to quickly deliver testing resources for students and staff if there are multiple cases in a cohort that require larger-scale testing.
The Department of Public Health and the Department of Secondary and Elementary Education will be coming out with more details on how this program will work in the coming weeks.
‘Stop the Spread’ Program
The Administration will be continuing the ‘Stop the Spread’ Targeted Free COVID-19 Testing Sites in several communities with the highest rate of COVID-19 through the end of September. The Administration has stressed the importance of this robust initiative especially as schools get underway.
Free to everyone in the Commonwealth and is even available to individuals who may be asymptomatic.
Please visit here to find a site that is near you.
Department of Public Health System Upgrade
This weekend, the Department of Public Health will be transitioning their data system’s portal to the Amazon Web Services Cloud.
This transition will help handle dramatic increases and anticipated testing volume as well as other data. This will be crucial with the increase in COVID-19 tests as more students return to MA.
This Friday night, there will be a temporary shutdown of the portal where lab results are reported. This will mean that the Department of Public Health’s Saturday report, which usually includes testing results received, may suggest lower testing numbers. In addition, the shut down will mean there will be no dashboard published on Sunday, August 23rd.
Monday, August 24th’s dashboard will include all the lab results from the weekend.