With the State Orders regarding non-essential business closures, due to expire on Monday, the Baker-Polito Administration today announced a four-phase approach to reopening the Massachusetts economy. The Governor stressed that a lot still depends on the continuation this week of level case and death numbers for Massachusetts. The phases are as follows:
Phase 1 START: Limited industries resume operations with severe restrictions.
Phase 2 CAUTIOUS: Additional industries resume operations with restrictions and capacity limits.
Phase 3 VIGILANT: Additional industries resume operations with guidance.
Phase 4 NEW NORMAL: Development of vaccine and/or therapy enables resumption of new normal.
The goal of the phased reopening, based on public health guidance, is to methodically allow certain businesses, services, and activities to resume, while protecting public health and limiting a resurgence. More comprehensive information can be found on the Mass.gov Covid-19 website. The termination of the Orders will not mean the immediate opening of all non-essential businesses, nor will it supersede any local Orders regarding business restrictions and social distancing measures.
In addition to the announcement of the phases, the Governor outlined new Mandatory Workplace Safety Standards for any business that may open in the coming weeks. The Standards are applicable to all sectors and industries that will be open in phase one, and create new workplace requirements for social distancing, hygiene, staffing and operations, and cleaning. These standards are being released to give workplaces time to plan and prepare for reopening. Full Standards can be found in the MEMA Command Center Site Report attached and online here. More regulations will be unrolled this week in order to protect the safety of the public and employees.
The Playball! Foundation, an organization which creates and expands sports opportunities for urban middle schoolers, presented $20,000 to the Holyoke Boys and Girls Club’s COVID-19 dinner program. The Holyoke Boys and Girls Club has provided over 11,000 dinners to the community since April.
Please be advised that you may be contacted by Public Health officials as part of the COVID-19 Contact Tracing Initiative sponsored by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. If you have tested positive for COVID-19 or were exposed to someone who has tested positive, you may receive a call from your local Board of Health or from the MA Department of Public Health. The call will only take a few minutes and is a necessary step to limit the spread of the virus. Your information will not be shared with any other agencies and these officials will never ask for your social security number or health insurance information. If you have any questions about a call you received, contact us at coronaresponse@holyoke.org
Massachusetts now is releasing a comprehensive “dashboard” to illustrate the spread of this virus across regions and demographics. You can view today’s here: https://www.mass.gov/doc/covid-19-dashboard-may-11-2020/download
Testing has a turnaround time of 1 – 4 days and many cases are being clinically diagnosed (no testing or reporting involved). All are advised to behave as though they are carriers of Covid-19.
712 Holyoke residents have been confirmed positive by testing.
4,763 confirmed cases in Hampden County (1% increase)
688 in Hampshire (2% increase)
296 in Franklin (<1% increase)
478 in Berkshire county (<1% increase)
The curve we need to flatten: County numbers graphed over time can be found here: https://www.wmasscovid.com/
Massachusetts has now experienced a total of 5,108 deaths connected to Covid-19