Image courtesy of the Department of Public Health
Gov. Charlie Baker launched a new colored-coded system to label cities and towns based of the severity of their COVID-19 infection rates on Tuesday, initiating a targeted approach to virus containment that he said should help inform and guide the state, communities and their residents in making decisions about how to contain the coronavirus’s spread.
The state has identified 33 communities where it believes worrying trends in COVID-19 infection rates warrant intervention efforts, including four “red” cities – Chelsea, Everett, Lynn and Revere – where residents are at the highest risk of becoming infected.
The state plans to offer all municipalities assigned a “red” or a “yellow” label assistance with testing, contact tracing, gathering-size enforcement and public awareness campaigns. Parks, playgrounds and some businesses could be restricted or shut down in moderate- or high-risk communities if they have been shown to be contributors to a municipality’s higher infection rates, the governor said.
“People need to step up and be aware of the level of spread in each community, and especially in your own area, and to be vigilant,” Baker said at a Tuesday press conference at the State House. “The virus doesn’t care about boundaries and it certainly takes every opening any of us give it.”
Communities that have demonstrated control over the virus, however, should be confident in moving ahead with their reopening strategies, he said, including a return to school in the fall. School districts were given an extension this week until Friday to submit plans for remote, in-person and a hybrid model for learning this fall, including the district’s choice for how to return in September.
The new maps, which will be updated weekly on Wednesdays, are part of an effort to revamp how the state reports public health data on the COVID-19 pandemic to keep residents better informed about the status of the communities where they live, work and shop.
“We also need to ensure that the businesses and individuals in those communities are aware of the level of COVID that exists in their communities, and what would be required of them to help control it,” Baker said.
The governor and his team reached out to leaders in all 33 “red” and “yellow” municipalities before Tuesday to offer assistance, and Baker said the common theme among officials he spoke to is that there have been too many informal gatherings with too many people, and people not wearing masks.
“We’re making progress and have made progress in our fight, but we’re seeing the effects of too many people letting their guard down and simply relaxing get in the way of some of our continued move forward,” Baker said.
The worst off communities will be assigned a “red” designation signaling a daily infection rate of more than 8 cases per 100,000 people. Chelsea, Everett, Lynn and Revere are currently the only four communities in that highest risk category.
The moderate risk “yellow” designation means that an average of four and eight daily cases per 100,000 people have been diagnosed over the previous two weeks, while “green” communities have fewer than 4 cases per 100,000 people and “white” communities will have had less than 5 cases total in the past 14 days.
The Baker administration’s stepped up vigilance comes after case totals and the state’s positive testing rate had been creeping up over the past couple of weeks. Both seem to have stabilized, with the positive testing rate back under 2 percent for several days, but the governor said that’s not the case everywhere in Massachusetts.
New rules went into effect on Tuesday capping outdoor gatherings on both public and private property at 50 people, half the amount previously allowed. And face coverings are mandatory if more than 10 people from different households will be in the same place. The limit on indoor gatherings remains 25 people.
Police can also enforce COVID-19 restrictions, picking up a task that previously had been under the purview of local boards of health.
