"Grounded in science and data"

[edschweppe]

The decision by the state to drop hospital mask mandates when the official public health emergency ends "was grounded in science and data", according to the new commissioner for public health:

In his first press conference as commissioner of public health, Dr. Robbie Goldstein marked — and in a sense celebrated — the end of the state and federal public health emergencies on Thursday.

The state is well equipped to track the virus and respond to any surges, and the controversial decision to lift the requirement for masks in health care settings was grounded in science and data, Goldstein asserted Tuesday at the Department of Public Health offices.

But he acknowledged that little will change on Friday, the day after the emergency officially ends — and cautioned that COVID-19 remains very much with us.

[ ... ]

The biggest change to come with the end of the emergency is the lifting of the hospital mask mandate, which was announced earlier this year. Massachusetts is the last state to lift such a mandate, Goldstein said.

Hospitals are advised to keep an eye out for upticks in illness, and make their own decisions about whether to resume masking. They also must supply masks to visitors, staff, and patients who request them.

Some people, including physicians and advocates for disabled people, have criticized the move as endangering vulnerable people seeking health care. But Goldstein defended the decision. "We are in a much different place with COVID-19," he said. "And at this moment, if we're looking at the risk of COVID-19 transmission, even in a health care setting, the risk is extremely low."

[ ... ]

After the emergency ends, vaccines, and therapeutics will remain available in the state, provided by the federal government, he said. When the federal supplies run out, probably sometime in the fall, private companies will sell the products — and the costs and processes surrounding that have yet to be worked out. "We want to make sure that everyone who needs a vaccine has a vaccine," Goldstein said.

Additionally, a Massachusetts law requires insurers to cover treatment and vaccines for COVID-19.

[ ... ]

Other changes as the emergency ends, Goldstein said, are mostly "under the hood," such as the way the state reports COVID-19 data to the federal government.

The state COVID-19 dashboard will continue for now, but may be updated less frequently as activity slows. But he pledged to make sure that communities and health providers will have enough information "to make local decisions about what they need to do to protect themselves against COVID."

I would really like to see the data behind Goldstein's claim that the risk of transmission is currently "extremely low". Yes, the current official case rates are dropping, but that's clearly tied to the drop in official test rates.

OTOH, it's nice to see that the state dashboard will continue, especially since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are dropping so much of their reporting once the federal public health emergency ends on Thursday.