Baker calls off school for year; says state can ‘deal’ with surge as Walsh asks continued vigilance

Gen. Jim McConville, chief of staff of the US Army, spoke alongside Gov. Charlie Baker at the Boston Hope field hospital inside the BCEC on April 18. Joshua Qualls/Gov. Baker’s office photo

Amid budding optimism that the worst of the coronavirus surge may have crested, state and city leaders urged residents to remain vigilant this week and to brace for an extended period of restrictions on daily routines. On Tuesday, Gov. Baker amplified that message by ordering schools in the Commonwealth to remain closed for the rest of the 2019-2020 academic year.

Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts since the start of the outbreak increased by 1,566 to 39,643, marking the fourth day in a row with fewer new cases than the previous day, while newly reported deaths grew by 103 to a total toll of 1,809, according to the Department of Public Health's update on Monday.

“The data shows we are still very much in the grips of a pandemic here in Massachusetts,” Gov. Baker said on Tuesday. “The facts on the ground tell us we need to stay strong, stay socially distant and stay home.”

Baker extended his order to keep all public and private schools in Massachusetts closed through the end of the current academic year. “At this point in time there is no authoritative guidance or advisories with respect to how to operate schools safely and how to get kids to and from schools safely,” the governor said.

Baker noted that while the number of reported cases has declined in each of the past five days, the number of people being hospitalized with illnesses related to the virus continues to grow. On Tuesday, the governor said that 58 percent of hospital rooms in the state remain unfilled— echoing earlier comments that the state’s health care system was poised to meet demand.

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"We have a health care system that is not going to be overwhelmed by this thing,” he said, “and the reason it's not going to be overwhelmed is because we've planned effectively, worked hard with our colleagues in the health community, and the people of Massachusetts, for the most part, did exactly the right thing about social distancing and hand washing and all of the issues we raised about disinfecting surfaces.

"People have done a great job on that and it's part of the reason why here in Massachusetts we will be able to deal with the surge and at the same time make sure we can take care of all the other issues."

The governor said the state's strategy to limit the spread of the coronavirus and prepare for the surge "has worked."

For his part, Mayor Walsh cautioned that there will still be many painful days ahead, including the continued loss of lives.

“I think that the worst is yet to come for a lot of people,” he said on Monday. “Even when we are beyond the surge, we’re still going to have cases of coronavirus. We’re still going to have loss of life. In theory, we might be on the other side of the curve, but for families that devastation of losing a loved one is still going to happen for the foreseeable future. It’s extremely important for us to continue to take precautions.”

Efforts made now to slow the spread of COVID-19, Walsh said, could prevent another surge of the virus in a few months, which Walsh said is "a fear that we all have."

The mayor chastised Bostonians who, he said, failed to adhere to his recommendations to stay inside, wear masks outdoors and avoid congregating in parks and on walkways.

In particular, he railed against groups of golfers that, he said, went out and played rounds at Franklin Park and George Wright courses — despite the fact that both municipal courses are officially closed.

“Yesterday I was watching a young person being interviewed by one of the TV stations [while] golfing and he was smiling,” the mayor said. “There’s nothing to smile about, nothing to be proud about. Not impressive on the golf course. That was a completely irresponsible move and he was completely irresponsible to his family and anyone around him.”

On Sunday, amid a slowdown in cases in New York City, the coordinator of the White House coronavirus response singled out Boston as a center of renewed concern.

"We're still very much focused on Boston and across Massachusetts where the epidemic continues to spread … and we're watching very closely Chicago," coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said on CBS's Face the Nation. "And then we watch every single outbreak that occurs in different states around the Untied States, including the most recent one in Ohio."

Birx called the pandemic "a series of small epidemics across the United States," but Boston was the first place she mentioned when asked where her concerns lie.

At 528 cases per 100,000 people, Massachusetts has the third most cases per capita of any state in the country, according to data compiled by the New York Times. Only New York and New Jersey outpace the Bay State. At 23 deaths per 100,000 residents, Massachusetts has the sixth most deaths per capita.

"The surge is in different places, in different states, at different times. We're in a very different place here in Massachusetts than other states are," Baker said during his own segment on Face the Nation. "We're right in the middle of the surge now."

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