Biz, gatherings could be squeezed in COVID-19 response
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Gov. Charlie Baker
Gov. Charlie Baker threatened Tuesday that he may cut the allowable gathering size below its current limit or revive restrictions on businesses if a slight jump in new COVID-19 cases accelerates into more substantial spread.
The governor did not outline a clear set of criteria that would prompt new orders from his administration, but after hinting last week that he was reviewing state guidance on how many people could safely gather at a single event, Baker said his administration is "not taking any options off the table."
Virtually all of the significant metrics public health experts track continue to fare much better than they did during the mid-April peak outbreak in Massachusetts. The average positive test rate, though, has increased from 1.7 percent in mid-July to 2.2 percent in recent days, a level last observed in June.
"We've only had a slight uptick from a low of 1.7 percent to 2 percent, but we'll be forced to adjust our plans if the data warrants it," Baker told reporters following a tour of the MedFlight headquarters in Bedford. "That could mean gathering sizes could be reduced or we could make some of our business regulations more strict. Reopening and staying open is obviously a big part of the goal, but obviously, we can't do that if we don't have everybody's help to continue to move forward."
Medical experts have grown increasingly concerned about the direction of trends in the state, cautioning publicly that Massachusetts may not be able to sustain the current pace of returning to public activity while keeping the highly infectious virus at bay.
Asked Tuesday how bad the outlook would need to get to prompt a further reduction of the limit or a new round of business limitations, Baker declined to set exact milestones.
He added that his team "look(s) at a lot of elements" before ordering next steps, and at one point, he said he did not want to "get into a hypothetical" discussion about potential decisions.
Baker said that earlier in the pandemic, his administration targeted a 5 percent positive test rate -- a standard recommended by the World Health Organization and other agencies -- as the goal to reach in Massachusetts, though he did not say explicitly whether surpassing that level would prompt action.
"We hope we will be able to continue to move forward, but if the data doesn't support moving forward, as we have said many times, we won't," he said.
When Baker and his administration rolled out a phased reopening plan in May, they said at the time that they could revert to an earlier stage if the public health data showed dangerous levels of viral spread.
Massachusetts is still not at that point, but the positive test rate has been inching upward since mid-July and several clusters of new infections linked to social events prompted Baker to say last week he was exploring whether the current indoor gathering limit of 25 people or the current outdoor gathering limit of 100, based on the size of the venue, are both still viable.
Parties in particular have emerged as a source of concern among not just the Baker administration, but governors across the country seeing new cases emerge.
The governor reiterated common advice to limit face-to-face interactions, wear a face covering whenever in public, and to practice personal hygiene.
"The overwhelming majority of the people in Massachusetts have stayed true to all the things we talk about," Baker said. "But we've talked several times in some of our more recent press conferences about the fact that there has definitely been some slippage in certain circumstances and situations."
On Tuesday, the Department of Public Health said it confirmed another 438 cases among 15,316 recent molecular tests given to individuals. The weighted seven-day average positive test rate in Tuesday's publication was updated to 2.2 percent for each of the past five days.
Baker's appearance was the first since new regulations went into place Saturday requiring travelers from all but eight low-risk states -- including Bay State residents returning home -- to quarantine for two weeks upon arrival or present a recent negative COVID-19 test.
Since the provisions took effect Saturday, Baker said "literally thousands and thousands" of people have submitted electronic forms describing their travel and providing contact information for tracing.
The new restrictions carry fines of up to $500 per day for violations, though Baker previously said it would largely work on an "honor system."
States where the average positive test rate is lower than 5 percent and the daily new case rate is less than six people per 100,000 are exempt from the requirement, as are people traveling across state lines for a regular work commute.
All of New England is in the no-quarantine zone, but that could change: Baker said Tuesday that adding Rhode Island to the list of states from which travelers must isolate, a step that governors in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut took on Tuesday, is "under active discussion."
"We'll have something to say about that, I think, shortly," Baker said, adding that his travel order offers exemptions for those who cross state lines to get to and from a regular office or worksite.
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