Somerville Opts Not To Lift Business Curfew

SOMERVILLE, MA — The 9:30 p.m. curfew on businesses was lifted across Massachusetts Monday, but Somerville officials say the current coronavirus data does not warrant that change at a local level.

In a letter to the Licensing Commission Monday, Omar Boukili, Somerville's COVID-19 incident commander, wrote that "current data does not warrant a change in our existing restrictions for restaurants and other industries."

However, Somerville's numbers show promise. Boukili said there has been a 1.9 percent decrease in Somerville's daily incidence rate over the last week – which he described as a "minute" drop – and a "modest" decrease in the 14-day percent positivity rate of less than 1 percent.

But the city's daily incidence rate is still more than five times what it was at the start of November, Boukili said, and officials are worried about emerging COVID-19 variants and "lagging" vaccine distribution.

"We are not, until we have access to this week's 7-day report, in a position to recommend any easing of the current restrictions," Boukili said.