THE STATE’S COVID-19 indicators trended in a positive direction on Friday, with new cases, hospitalizations, and patients in intensive care units all falling.
“We’ve seen progress and we’ll continue to see progress as long as everybody continues to do their part,” said Gov. Charlie Baker prior to the latest numbers coming out.
Baker has indicated he intends to start reopening the state’s economy on May 18 as long as the downward trend continues.
There have been a few ups and downs in the data this week, but overall most of the key indicators are heading in a good direction. The percent of all COVID-19 cases hospitalized dropped to 4 percent from 5 percent; the percentage was 10 percent as recently as April 20.
Hospitalizations fell to 3,349, hitting the lowest level since April 12 and continuing a downward trend that has lasted for 16 days. The number of ICU patients fell to 826, also the lowest level since April 12.
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Editor, CommonWealth
About Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.
About Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.
The number of new COVID-19 cases continued to grow, increasing by 1,612 on Friday, but that number was down 84 from a day earlier. New cases represented 11.2 percent of the new tests conducted, which is where the state has been hovering for some time.
Deaths continued to rise at a fairly rapid clip, but the total of 150 on Friday was driven primarily by the 98 in long-term care facilities. Deaths in those facilities are increasingly being viewed as distinct from deaths in hospitals and elsewhere, and being addressed differently. The governor has said those institutions, where 60 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the state have occurred, are unlikely to open to the public anytime soon.
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