BOSTON (WHDH) - Gov. Charlie Baker on Wednesday said that he is concerned with how coronavirus-related hospitalizations are not falling at a “consistent rate” and warned residents that moving forward too quickly “runs a real risk” of creating a second outbreak, which would overwhelm the healthcare system and return Massachusetts to square one in its fight against the pandemic.
There are 3,875 coronavirus patients who are currently hospitalized statewide but the hospitalization rate has not been at falling at a rate that indicates the Bay State is past the surge phase of the pandemic, Baker explained during a news conference at the State House.
The statewide hospitalization rate has hovered between 7 percent and 10 percent for at least a week now and that doesn’t seem to be changing, according to Baker.
“Hospitalizations around COVID-19 patients have been flat, which is better than a sharp spike, but it’s not falling at a consistent rate either,” Baker said. “About seven percent of those who test positive require hospitalization statewide.”
One day after extending his non-essential business order and stay-at-home advisory to May 18, Baker reminded residents that the state has not yet seen a downward trend in key statistical categories that will dictate when the economy can reopen, including COVID-19 hospitalization rates, the percentage of new positive cases, and the status of community hot spots.
“We have not yet seen the downward trend that virtually every analyst, public health expert, federal official, and CDC official has said is a critical part of making the decision to move ahead and reopen,” Baker said. “That’s also, by the way, one of the major criteria that virtually every state is using when they make these decisions.”
The state’s reopening advisory board, which is being led by Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, launched Tuesday and held its first virtual meeting to begin discussions on how to “safely and responsibly” return to a “new normal,” according to Baker.
“They hit the ground running and held their first virtual meeting yesterday,” Baker said. “Their plan will continue to develop over the course of the next several weeks. But the goal here is to develop guidelines for businesses to start a phased approach on reopening safely.”
Baker added that a decision on when to start implementing the plan will be dictated by public health data, especially since Massachusetts is still in the plateau of the surge.
“As your governor, we are always going to put Massachusetts first. We’ll be ready to move on from this stage of our lives but not until we actually see the data that demonstrates it can be done and done appropriately,” Baker said. “Moving too quickly runs the real risk of creating another outbreak, which will put people out work, overwhelm our healthcare system, and put us right back in the public health crisis that we have all worked so hard to get out of. When we take a step forward, we don’t want to take two steps back.”
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On Tuesday, there were more than 9,000 tests administered, 1,840 new cases of coronavirus, and 150 deaths reported across the Commonwealth, prompting some communities to begin issuing fines to residents who don’t wear a mask or face-covering in public places.
When asked about a possible statewide mandate on wearing masks, Baker said he would prefer to leave that decision up to local officials.
With nicer weather coming and pressure mounting to give people safe activities to do outside, Baker said he might consider allowing golf courses to reopen with restrictions.
Baker also announced that the pandemic unemployment insurance program, which is available for those who aren’t usually eligible for regular unemployment, has seen more than 150,000 applications.
The program has since paid out about $500 million in benefits to those who have applied.
Baker also reminded residents to keep practicing social distancing and staying home, saying, “because of all your hard work, there are better days ahead.”
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