Citing the recent spike in COVID-19 infections in other parts of the country, Governor Charlie Baker on Thursday urged state residents to remain vigilant and wear face coverings when they can’t socially distance in an effort to keep infection rates low in Massachusetts, where the seven-day average of positive tests continues to hover around 2 percent.
“It’s very clear from the research and data that face coverings are the most important and significant way to stop the spread,” Baker said during his regular State House news conference. ”While there’s been a lot of back and forth ... the one thing we all know for sure is it spreads from one person to another, to another, and then to another.”
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He said continued precautions are “especially important as the rest of the country has experienced significant increases in recent weeks that we stay vigilant here in Massachusetts.”
Baker’s order requiring people to wear face coverings in public when they can’t socially distance took effect in May. Children aged 2 and under are exempt, as are people who have medical conditions that make mask-wearing untenable.
“That order is going to remain in place until we don’t have an emergency,” Baker said, adding that statewide compliance with his mask order has been high.
“If people want to engage in a discussion about masks as they relate to COVID, my view is masks are a fundamental part of how we contain and fight the virus,” Baker said. “And we believe the proposal we put in place, which gives locals the ability to also enforce this order with a variety of means of mechanisms that are available to them, has worked enormously effectively. ... And again, I give the people of the Commonwealth credit for recognizing and understanding that this is not only an important way to protect themselves, but it’s also an important way to protect others, given the amount of asymptomatic spread that exists with COVID generally.”
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He added that the state’s hospitalization rates for COVID-19 remain low, with just six hospitals using surge capacity as of Wednesday, which was mainly due to non-ICU and non-COVID related issues.
Baker also addressed recent acrimony over COVID-19 data and reporting issues coming out of Washington, D.C.
Calling the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention a ”source of truth, for lack of a better word” on COVID-19 data, Baker said that “as the virus continues to grow around the country, it’s more important than ever” for the CDC to put out a daily statement on nationwide numbers on infections and hospitalizations.
Turning to housing, Baker and Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito also touted the tens of millions in funding, including a sizable amount of federal money, available for Massachusetts residents for housing assistance and other priorities during the pandemic.
Among the funding sources is $19.6 million for municipalities to address emergency needs, the Baker administration said in a statement. That cash will support 181 communities “in their work to provide vital services to low-income residents and small businesses affected by the recent outbreak,” the statement said.
Local governments and regional entities will use the money for social services including homelessness prevention, food aid, and job training for in-demand health care workers and technicians, according to Baker’s office.
That money comes on top of a $20 million Emergency Rental and Mortgage Assistance the Baker administration announced last month. The program, the statement said, will “help more low-income households who have lost employment or income due to the pandemic maintain stable housing, and builds on” the state Department of Housing and Community Development’s existing homelessness prevention program.
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More information on housing assistance is available online.
“Before COVID-19, the combination of the increased demand for housing and the inadequate levels of production meant home costs and rental prices continued to climb over the last decade,” Polito said during the briefing. “With COVID-19, the impact of stable housing has never been clearer.”
And earlier this month, Baker’s office said in the statement, the administration unveiled a $275 million COVID-19 recovery package.
The statement said the package is designed to promote equity across the state and includes “$85 million for housing efforts, including investments in neighborhood stabilization and sustainable, climate resilient affordable housing, as well as $50 million in targeted relief for small and minority-owned businesses.”
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe. Jaclyn Reiss can be reached at jaclyn.reiss@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter: @JaclynReiss
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Masks are the ‘most important’ tool in keeping state’s coronavirus rate low, Baker says - The Boston Globe
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