More contagious virus strain already likely in Mass., Baker says
Photo | Matt Stone | Boston Herald | Pool
Gov. Charlie Baker stood alongside a timetable of estimated COVID-19 vaccine distribution at a news conference in December.
A more contagious variant of COVID-19, which the CDC said Sunday it is closely watching, is likely already in Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker said Tuesday.
During a press conference in Springfield, Baker said his administration is assuming that the mutated strain of the coronavirus that appears to be more contagious is already in Massachusetts, even if federal officials have not yet identified it here.
He said people need to "take seriously this idea that we were already dealing with a very contagious virus in the first place which we now have a new variant that's even more contagious than the original one" and be especially vigilant about mitigation efforts.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Sunday it is closely monitoring the spread of the variant, which was first detected in the United Kingdom and has since been found in the U.S. and on other continents. Public health officials have said existing vaccines are effective against the new strain. The United States has required proof of negative virus tests from anyone arriving from the U.K.
Public health officials reported another 4,178 cases of the coronavirus Tuesday and announced the recent deaths of 63 people.
The COVID-19 data released by the Department of Public Health on Tuesday brought the state's cumulative case count to 379,633 and raised the death toll here to 12,734 people with confirmed or likely cases of COVID-19. The first case was confirmed here almost one year ago, on Feb. 1, 2020, and the first death was announced March 20.
The seven-day average positive test rate in Massachusetts continued its climb Tuesday and now stands at 8.57% compared with 7.58% a week ago. Tuesday's new cases came from just less than 60,000 tests, which is about half of what the state had been processing daily a few weeks ago. Baker said Tuesday that testing has fallen off slightly and his administration attributes it to the holidays.
There were 89 more COVID-19 patients being treated in Massachusetts hospitals as of Monday than there were 24 hours prior, and the state's hospitals are now treating 2,428 people for COVID-19. Intensive care units are treating 425 patients, including 264 people who need a ventilator to help them continue to breathe.
WBJ Web Partners
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments