GOV. CHARLIE BAKER slightly loosened capacity restrictions at restaurants, retailers, and gyms on
Thursday as the state’s weekly COVID-19 numbers continued to retreat from the highs of recent weeks.
Vaccinations increased, but the numbers didn’t seem to mesh with figures released by the governor on Wednesday. . The state’s weekly vaccination report indicated 681,472 shots have been administered so far, including 149,030 over the last seven days. The report said 896,300 doses had been shipped to Massachusetts. On Wednesday, however, Baker said 654,104 doses had been administered so far out of 1 million shipped.
The number of high-risk communities, designated in red on the state’s color-coded map, fell to 153, down from 192 a week ago and 222 two weeks ago. None of the red communities reported more than 100 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people over the last two weeks, the first time that has happened in more than a month.
The state as a whole reported 48.9 cases per 100,000 people over the last two weeks, down from 59.4 cases last week. The state’s positive test rate (positive tests divided by total tests), dropped from 5.51 percent a week ago to 4.32 percent this week.
Gardner and Orleans were the two communities with the highest case numbers – 96.7 cases per 100,000 people and 96.6 cases per 100,000, respectively. Chelsea had 92.9 cases and Dedham 91, while Springfield had 81.8 and Lawrence 80.5. Boston moved from the red category to yellow, reporting 48.5 cases per 100,000 people.
Other COVID indicators are also improving. Hospitalizations are down 33 percent since early January and the seven-day average of new cases is down about 53 percent from the peak, Baker said at a State House press conference.
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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 positive trends prompted Baker to increase capacity limits at restaurants, retailers, movie theaters, casinos, offices, and places of worship from 25 percent to 40 percent starting Monday. The lower capacity limit was put in place on December 26 as COVID cases were spiraling upward.
The governor kept existing gathering limits in place – 10 for indoor gatherings and 25 for outdoor gatherings.
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