Local COVID-19 updates

[edschweppe]

As of 4PM this afternoon, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is reporting 33 more deaths from COVID-19 (for a total of 5,141 to date), 870 new cases (for a total of 79,332) and 6,768 more tests performed (for a total of 401,496). Today's dashboard includes the following note:

Due to a later reporting deadline on Monday May 11, some deaths that might have been included in today’s report were instead included in yesterday’s report.

Presumably, that's why today's death count seems comparatively low; on the other hand, there's no explanation for the week-on-week drop in tests performed.

Still, the overall trends are at least somewhat hopeful, as the Boston Globe noted, which may bode well for at least some businesses to reopen their physical locations on May 18:

The state reported Tuesday that the death toll from the coronavirus outbreak in Massachusetts had risen by 33 cases to 5,141. Although that was the lowest daily number reported in more than a month, the state noted that due to a later reporting deadline on Monday, some deaths that might have been included in Tuesday’s report were instead in Monday’s report. The two-day average of deaths was 81, still a decline from the highest tally, 252, in late April.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases climbed by 870 to 79,332. The Department of Public Health also reported 6,768 new tests had been conducted, marking a total of 401,496 in the state.

The state’s daily percentage of positive tests rose slightly to 13 percent, but continued to show a general decline from mid-April highs of 33 and 34 percent. The seven-day average for positive test rates, a number closely watched by public health experts, stayed stable at 14 percent, but overall continued a downward trend from April highs.

[ ... ]

Asked Tuesday which Massachusetts industries may open first under the phased reopening, [Governor] Baker did not offer many specifics.

"The folks that are most likely to be able to operate successfully on [May 18] are going to be many of the folks that are currently operating," Baker said. "They’re essential businesses. But they are going to have to operate under the statewide guidelines and the industry-specific guidelines that will be issued" as part of the reopening advisory group’s report on May 18.

The second group of industries, Baker said, will include "people who work in ways and in spaces that don’t have a lot of face-to-face interaction with customers as part of their regular business. And then, as you move into the second and third phases or intermediate steps along the way, we’ll start to bring the folks who have direct face-to-face contact with customers in, and make sure we do it in a way that gives them the time that they need to actually create the infrastructure that’s necessary to preserve and protect their employees and their customers."

Asked if businesses in the first phase of reopening will know they’re in that group prior to the release of the report on the 18th, Baker said, "I think it’ll probably be on the 18th."

The town of Acton has yet to post an update today; yesterday's report listed 136 confirmed cases in town (up from 121 the day before. 68 cases were reported as being "cases in isolation that are actively being monitored"; that number was up from 52 the previous day.