BOSTON (WHDH) – Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday announced that Massachusetts is moving forward with a plan to build a 240-bed field hospital, in part because the “desire to get back to normal” has been fueling the spread of COVID-19 and causing an uptick in hospitalizations across the Commonwealth.
The National Guard has been tasked with building the field hospital at the DCU Center in Worcester and it will be ready to start accepting coronavirus patients as early as the first week of December, Baker said during a news conference at the State House. Doctors and nurses from UMass Medical Center will staff the makeshift facility.
Baker added that state health officials and MEMA are currently working to identify other locations for field hospitals if the need for them arises.
More than 700 patients were served at field hospitals in Boston and Worcester in the spring. Three other sites that were built went unused.
Since Labor Day, newly reported coronavirus cases have increased by seven times and new hospitalizations have increased by two times, public health data indicates.
On Thursday, Massachusetts reached a grim milestone, surpassing 10,000 virus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic.
“The numbers have clearly been trending in the wrong direction since the end of summer,” Baker said. “We’ve learned a lot about this virus since last spring, but we have a long way to go.”
As of Friday, hospitals across the state were operating at 73 percent capacity with more than 600 COVID patients undergoing treatment, Baker noted. Hospitals are also prepared to convert about 400 acute care beds into ICU beds.
“We believe that it’s possible to create the capacity that we need here in Massachusetts to treat non-COVID medical care and COVID medical care as we work our way through this surge,” Baker said.
People who have grown lax and expanded their social circles because they have a “desire to get back to normal” have played a significant role in contributing to the recent surge, Baker stated.
“People need to change their behavior and get serious about who they spend time with, how they act, and understand Massachusetts is at risk primarily because of a lot of the things people do when they let down their guard,” Baker said. “A big part of what has been driving the increase in cases and hospitalizations is in many respects what I would call the individual acts of many people engaged in familiar activity, on a causal basis, with people they are comfortable with.”
Baker called upon the public to step as individuals, urging everyone to wear a mask indoors and outdoors if they are not with their immediate family.
“In those most familiar settings, people need to recognize that the role they play is an important one,” Baker said. “The innocent acts of small gatherings is where COVID is finding its greatest opportunity to spread.”
There have been more than 2,000 new virus cases reported on five of the last seven days — a trend Baker desperately wants to reverse.
“The trajectory now is sustained and troubling. Everybody needs to step up and help ensure that we get our arms around this,” Baker said.
The governor also warned Bay Staters to be vigilant during the holidays so the state can avoid another massive spike in new cases, citing a number of outbreaks in Canada following their Thanksgiving holiday.
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