BOSTON (WHDH) – Gov. Charlie Baker announced Monday that all hospitals in Massachusetts will curtail some elective procedures later this week to free up beds for virus patients and alleviate pressure on health care workers amid a “rapid increase” in new COVID-19 cases since Thanksgiving.
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“Effective Friday, hospitals will curtail elective procedures that can be safely postponed,” Baker said during a news conference at the State House. “This action will free up necessary staffing and beds…We can’t afford to continue straining the hospital system at this rate.”
The curtailment of elective procedures will be limited to inpatient treatments and procedures that impact inpatient capacity.
Outpatient procedures such as mammograms, colonoscopies, and pediatric services will remain available to the public, according to Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders.
“It’s not the blanket across the board curtailment that we implemented in the first surge,” Sudders explained.
As of Sunday, hospitals were at 69 percent capacity with more than 1,400 hospitalized COVID-19 patients and 238 people in the ICU.
“Massachusetts is now experiencing a rapid increase in new positive cases in the wake of Thanksgiving, and in turn the number of people becoming ill and needing hospitalization is also increasing,” Baker said.
Baker noted that new coronavirus cases “took off like a rocket” in the days after the holiday.
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The state’s weekly positivity rate since the holiday has climbed to 5.34 percent, which Baker said is putting a burden on hospitals.
“We now have a hospital community that’s really struggling,” Baker said.
Baker urged residents to stop attending gatherings with non-household members because informal get-togethers have been fueling the second surge.
“My circle of friends has gotten very small. There are lots of people we haven’t seen in forever,” Baker explained. “I used to have a meal with my dad every single week. I haven’t had a meal with my dad since February. I don’t like that but those are the rules.”
After more than 10,000 new coronavirus cases were recorded over the weekend, Baker announced that a number of new winterized test sites will open in communities across the state to meet an increased demand for testing.
The expansion includes three new free express testing sites in Framingham, New Bedford, and Lynn that will have the capacity to test 1,000 people a day.
“Stop the Spread” testing sites will also open in Barnstable, Berkshire, Franklin, and Hampshire counties.
The expansion will give the state the capability of conducting up 110,000 tests per week at state-run sites.
“Folks need to keep in mind that testing only represents a moment in time,” Baker said. “It’s critical that we all keeping working this so we can our schools and our economy functioning.”
Baker also warned that “every option is on the table” if infections and hospitalizations continue to climb.
The federal government has allocated Massachusetts 59,475 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for the first shipment that is part of 300,000 doses that the CDC is expected to send the Commonwealth by the end of December, Baker noted.
The initial allotment of 300,000 COVID-19 vaccines will be for the first dose of a two-dose regimen.
“It’s two doses…So we got to deliver the first dose, create a schedule for delivering the second one, and make people come back to get the second one,” Baker said.
Details on the state’s vaccine distribution plan will be made public on Wednesday.
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