Baker: Cancel Holiday Plans And Travel

MASSACHUSETTS — With polls showing 30 percent of Massachusetts residents planning to celebrate the holidays with people outside their household, Gov. Charlie Baker urged them to cancel or postpone those plans in his coronavirus update Tuesday.

"I would really ask you and urge you to, first of all, reconsider those plans," Baker said. "If you must ... people should wear masks, they should open windows, they should use good hygiene, they should distance if they can, and follow the rules that have been put in place and proven to be effective."

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The state Department of Health released holiday guidelines Tuesday, as it did before Thanksgiving. But the state has seen a sharp increase in coronavirus cases, deaths and positive test dates since then. On Tuesday, Baker blamed the spike on people who ignored those guidelines before the holiday and said the spike had put the state's health care system under stress.

"The safest way to celebrate this year is with members of your own household and to postpone or cancel travel plans," Baker said. "We just saw this movie, and it dramatically impacts those closest to you and the rest of us in Massachusetts."

Before Thanksgiving, the state's positive test rate had held steady between 2 and 3 percent per day. Since then, it has risen to 5.7 percent. During the same period, the average number of daily, confirmed cases has increased 96 percent, hospitalizations are up 93 percent, and 689 people have died — an increase of 84 percent.

"I don't need to tell anyone these aren't just numbers. They're people, and they're stories, and they're relationships," Baker said. "Those data points do speak to how COVID-19 moves. Many people have light or no symptoms at all, but at the same time they can make other people horribly ill."

Baker rolled the state back to Phase 3, Step 1 on Sunday, which mainly lowered capacity limits on businesses and gatherings, and tightened mask regulations. On Tuesday, he stopped short of imposing new restrictions on Massachusetts businesses, even as eight Massachusetts towns said they would roll back business reopenings. Arlington, Boston, Brockton, Lynn, Melrose, Newton, Somerville and Winthrop will keep the new restrictions in place for at least three weeks beginning Wednesday.

"I'm OK with people making decisions that make sense for them," Baker said.

Since Thanksgiving, hospitals have seen an increase in the number of coronavirus patients they are treating. Melissa Jocelyn, a nursing director at Massachusetts General Hospital, said she was "gravely concerned" as the hospital was starting to see a shortage of beds.

"We are experiencing capacity challenges," Jocelyn said. "If you are a patient in the emergency room, you may have to wait for a very long time for a bed to become available."

Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).