The plan for reopening Massachusetts took a step backward on Dec. 8 when Gov. Charlie Baker announced a rollback to the prior stage of the reopening plan. Baker said the move was made in response to a sharp increase in COVID-19 infections and hospitalizations since the Thanksgiving holiday. Baker also announced a three-phase vaccine timeline, with a prioritized list of recipients in each phase.
Starting Dec. 13, the state will move back to Phase 3, Step 1 of the reopening plan, which means indoor theaters, performance venues, and high-contact indoor recreation businesses must close. The limit on outdoor gatherings will be 50 for all towns, which will lower Harvard’s current limit of 100. In addition, capacity at a number of venues, including gyms, places of worship, offices, and retail stores will be reduced from 50% to 40%.
Restaurant changes include a 90-minute time limit on tables, no more than six patrons per table, and a mask requirement in the restaurant except when actively eating or drinking. Masks will also be required at all times in gyms, and in offices unless an employee is alone in a workspace.
A day earlier, Baker announced hospitals will restrict elective procedures that can be postponed, effective Dec. 11. The restrictions will apply only to procedures that would take up a hospital bed, and surgeries necessary to a person’s well-being will still be available. A field hospital was opened at the DCU Center in Worcester last week, and another is scheduled to open soon in Lowell. Baker said, “We can’t afford to keep straining our hospitals at this rate.” He added that there are also staffing shortages at “a number of hospitals” in the state, and the new elective procedure curtailment will not only free up beds, but also staff.
Locally, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Harvard increased from 30 to 44 in just the three weeks between Nov. 12 and Dec. 3. As a result of the recent rise, Town Hall is now open by appointment only. Town Administrator Tim Bragan said the move was necessary to protect employees.
Bragan told the Press that a total of two town employees have tested positive for COVID-19 so far. Three employees who were recently quarantining because of close contact have all tested negative and returned to work. On Dec. 2 School Superintendent Linda Dwight announced that another faculty member had tested positive. She said the exposure happened over Thanksgiving break, and the person did not return to school so there were no close school contacts. This is the school’s second COVID-19 case; a faculty member tested positive about two weeks earlier.
Baker appeared frustrated by the recent spike in cases at his Dec. 8 press conference. He recounted the multiple times people were advised to spend Thanksgiving with just the people they live with. He said: “Our positive test rates stopped growing for about 10 days, and then about five days after Thanksgiving they took off like a rocket. I urge everybody to take a lesson from that.”
There is some good news. At a press conference on Dec. 9, Baker announced that the federal government had allocated 59,475 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to Massachusetts. This will be the first shipment of the 300,000 Massachusetts is expecting from Pfizer and Moderna by the end of December. Additional shipments are expected in January, February, and March. Vaccines will be distributed in three phases.
In the first phase, vaccines will be allocated first to hospital workers who have contact with COVID-19 patients, then to residents and staff of long-term care and assisted living facilities, first responders, congregate care centers such as prisons and shelters, home health care workers, and hospital workers not in direct contact with COVID-19 patients. The second phase is estimated to begin in February, and this group will include workers in critical industries, including teachers, grocery, transit, utility, and agricultural workers, people over 65, and those with underlying medical conditions. The third phase includes everyone else, and Baker said he hopes this phase will begin in April. For more information, see mass.gov/covid-19-vaccine-in-massachusetts.
Harvard’s closest free testing site is currently at the New England Sports Center at 121 Donald Lynch Boulevard in Marlborough. To see the latest list of free testing sites, go to mass.gov/info-details/stop-the-spread. The full list of testing sites (not necessarily free) is at mass.gov/covid-19-testing.
