My updates on COVID-19 for Friday, July 10, 2020.
Below are Mayor Walsh’s remarks as prepared for Friday, July 10, 2020.
Thank you everyone.
I’ll start with the latest numbers. In Massachusetts, as of yesterday, total cases are at 110,897, an increase of 295. Statewide there have been 8,268 deaths, up by 25. Those numbers combine both the confirmed and probable cases recorded by the state.
Boston’s numbers: as of yesterday, we have recorded 13,650 cases, an increase of 26. 9,666 people are fully recovered, an increase of 28. 713 people have passed away, up by one.
Our prayers continue to be with the families of those who have passed away, and all who are struggling with this illness.
Phase 3 begins in Boston this Monday, July 13, so today I’m going to provide updates on how we are moving forward in public health, in City services, and in our guidelines for private-sector organizations and individuals.
I’ll start with the public health strategy. We are going to continue to follow the science and monitor the data to make sure we are moving in the right direction and to make any adjustments that are needed. We’ll continue to track average new cases, which have been going down over each 14-day period. We’ll continue to be in daily contact with our hospitals. As of this week, ICU usage in Boston hospitals is at 75% of normal capacity, which is well below surge levels.
We’ll continue to monitor the testing data closely. Our overall positive rate since the start of the pandemic is now down to 15.5%, from a starting point of over 35%. For the week leading up to July 4, only 1.8% of COVID tests came back positive.
We will continue to make testing widely available, working with our community health centers. We are partnering with a number of health centers on temporary mobile sites that offer free walk-up testing whether you have symptoms or not. We’ll be bringing the mobile sites to neighborhoods where inequities are evident in the case numbers, or where fewer people are getting tested. You can call 311 to connect to the Mayor’s Health Line for the latest on mobile testing in your neighborhood or anywhere in the city, and our map of regular testing sites will be kept up to date at boston.gov/coronavirus.
I also want to be clear that we have a robust contact tracing operation in the Boston Public Health Commission. We are reaching out in multiple languages with information on testing and self-quarantine. It’s a good example of where leading with equity makes a whole system stronger.
All of this work is going to allow us to enter Phase 3 with both caution and confidence. We took an extra week to take this step, due to our unique concerns in Boston.
This cautious approach also informs our reopening of City facilities. We remain on a Tuesday and Friday schedule for services by appointment at City Hall. We are formulating plans to increase access to services both at City Hall and other municipal buildings. But, despite state guidelines allowing larger gatherings, we will not be hosting public or private meetings in City Hall or other city buildings. We have had success with online meetings and will continue that way for the time being. A great example is our community planning on the future of Franklin Park.
Franklin Park is Boston’s biggest open space and it’s one of the great public parks in all of America. It’s in the heart of our communities of color, touching Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, and Jamaica Plain. It’s a place to experience nature, it’s a place for health and recreation, and it’s a place to gather as a community, as we’ve seen in recent demonstrations. We are investing $28 million to preserve and improve Franklin Park. That includes $5 million for a maintenance endowment to make sure it is always kept in great shape. Despite economic setbacks caused by the pandemic, this investment and many others are moving forward, to support health equity and quality of life in our city.
It’s critical that local voices continue to lead the way in shaping its future. So, on Tuesday of next week, July 14, we’re hosting online community workshops at noon and 6:30 p.m. You can find out where we are in the planning process and make your voice heard. You can learn more and join the workshop at FranklinParkActionPlan.com.
We believe parks are essential to the health and wellbeing of residents in every neighborhood. They’ve been a vital resource in the pandemic. We remain the number one city in the country for access to parks, and we’re making sure our open spaces are available and accessible this summer.
Playgrounds and splash pads reopened in Phase 2, with appropriate safety signage. On Monday, permitting starts back up for low- and moderate-contact sports and other events. High contact sports like basketball, football, and lacrosse are not permitted until Step 2 of Phase 3, but skills practice in those sports is allowed.
For outdoor events, we are limiting attendance to 50 people. This is less than the statewide limit, which is 100. People organizing or participating in events will be required to follow all the guidelines around face coverings and physical distancing.
I want to thank the Parks Department and Tourism, Sports and Entertainment for kicking off our Drive-In Movie series successfully this week at the Convention Center in South Boston. Most of our shows have filled up already, but we still have slots available for our Age Strong Matinee next Wednesday, July 15. This is open to Boston residents who are 55 or older. Registration is required by calling Age Strong at 617–635–3959, or call 311 and they’ll connect you. We will be showing the movie 42, the story of American legend Jackie Robinson.
The Boston Public Library system is another foundation in our city’s quality of life. We’ve been committed to making library services available in one form or another during the pandemic. Since the buildings were closed, we’ve had 1.4 million online items checked out. We’ve had 31,000 new library card sign-ups. We’ve had an average of 9,000 patrons using library services each day. That’s a testament to how our residents rely on them.
In Phase 3, we are not opening our physical libraries yet, out of an abundance of caution. We will continue online borrowing as well as our new BPL to Go program. In just a couple of weeks of BPL to Go, we’ve already had 28,000 physical items put on hold, and 12,000 items picked up and checked out. As of Monday, BPL to Go will be available at 16 branches across the city, with more to come soon. You can use the bpl.org website, call by phone (617–536–5400), or use the BPL to Go app to hold items for pickup at a branch.
I also have an update from the Boston Center for Youth and Families on summer programming at our community centers. Our community centers have been closed since March, for everything except free meal distribution. Many families rely on them over the summer and we’ve been working hard to make sure safe programming is available. Teen programming started this week on a virtual basis.
Today, online registration is open for day programs, both virtual and in-person, for children seven and older. They include arts and computer activities, recreation, virtual field trips, workshops, and more. As more programs are finalized they will be added. All of these programs will be operated in accordance with public health guidelines. You can learn more and register at boston.gov/BCYFsummer.
A healthy and equitable reopening also depends on the actions taken by private sector organizations, so we’re going to continue providing resources to help workplaces manage their risk and move forward safely.
For Phase 2, we published guidelines for construction, office space, houses of worship, and outdoor and indoor dining. For Phase 3, we have new sector guidelines available for indoor fitness and health clubs, outdoor events, museums, cultural and historic facilities, and guided tours. These are detailed operational guidelines that build on the state requirements.
To answer questions, we’re continuing our webinar series for various industries. Yesterday we covered indoor fitness and this afternoon at 3:00 p.m. we have one on museums and cultural facilities. You can find all these resources and more by visiting boston.gov/reopening.
I want to again urge all employers to communicate clearly with workers, both in planning and execution. Use translation services for language access and comply with all ADA regulations. This pandemic has made clear that an inclusive, equitable plan means a stronger and safer system.
In Phase 3 we will also continue to support residents and small businesses who are suffering economically from this crisis. I have updates today on housing, employment, and transportation.
I can start with some news you may have seen today. We are extending the moratorium on non-essential evictions at Boston Housing Authority properties through the end of 2020. Taking this step protects tens of thousands of the lowest-income residents all across the city. These are extraordinary times, and we need to come together to protect residents and stabilize our communities.
I want to thank the Winn Companies for also extending their moratorium through 2020, for folks who have lost income due to the pandemic. Winn is the largest private operator of affordable housing in the Commonwealth. I encourage all landlords to follow their lead. Nobody should be losing their home at a time like this.
I also want to encourage tenants to contact your landlord or building manager as soon as possible if you are having difficulties. They should be flexible and willing to work with you, but it takes clear communication from both sides.
We are going to keep making our $8 million rental relief fund available, for those without access to benefits. I want to thank the governor for adding to the state’s rental relief fund as well. And I continue to support an extension of the statewide moratorium on evictions. But, there’s a widespread issue of economic disruption that needs to be addressed. So I urge Washington to look at what Americans are facing this summer and fall — with unemployment, lost income, and lost business revenue — and take bold action. We are closely monitoring the economic situation here in Boston.
In addition to our relief funds, we are drawing on the resources and expertise of our Office of Workforce Development to help those who are out of work due to COVID. We have a new program called Project Opportunity in partnership with our Office of Public Safety. It’s a set of legal supports, job training, and job access opportunities to help residents with CORI reports. Second chances are at the core of what we believe in this administration. Everyone who is doing the right thing deserves a job and a path to financial security, and that’s especially true during a crisis like this.
Transportation is a major issue for access to jobs, quality of life, and environmental justice. We took the opportunity this spring to create a Healthy Streets initiative, to accelerate our work on new bus and bike lanes and improved pedestrian space. This week, we completed the bus-only lane on Washington Street through Chinatown into Downtown, and added a separated bike lane for part of the route.
I want to thank the Transit Team we created in the Boston Transportation Department to advance these kinds of projects, the MBTA for their partnership, and business owners in Chinatown we worked with on new loading zones. For 24,000 daily riders, this bus lane is going to take 12 minutes off the commute from Nubian Square in Roxbury to jobs and amenities in Downtown Boston. It’s going to create a safer bike ride for many more.
I can also share that, to help with a safe reopening, the Blue Bikes program is offering free 90-day passes to all workers in grocery stores, pharmacies, restaurants, and local retail shops. This builds on their free passes for medical and frontline workers during the closures. Blue Bikes connect almost every part of our city to downtown. It’s a safe and healthy way to travel, available 24/7. We’re cleaning and sanitizing all our bikes and bike stations regularly.
I’ve covered a lot of ground today, but the overall message for Phase 3 is this: We can move forward, because we’ve been doing the right things. Now we all have to continue doing those things. For businesses and nonprofits, that means careful planning and implementation of public health guidelines. For individuals, it means wear a face covering whenever you are out, keep six feet of distance and avoid crowds, wash your hands frequently and clean your surfaces.
We are moving forward with caution because we’re seeing what happens in other states when you rush. We are moving forward guided by science, because it’s the only way to defeat a virus. We are moving forward together, by supporting those in need, investing in our communities and advancing equity and quality of life in our city — through this pandemic and long afterward.
I’ve talked about health and quality of life today, so I have to close with the ongoing concern about fireworks.
I’ve been talking about the dangers of fireworks for over a month now. The Fourth of July is behind us, but they are still out there. They continue to be a safety and quality of life concern in our neighborhoods.
As we’ve heard and as I’ve said, this is causing trauma, stress, and sleeplessness. It’s a fire hazard and a very real safety risk. Now, we have an 11-year-old in the hospital with serious injuries to his hand, a situation that was entirely preventable.
I spoke with his mother yesterday. He is recovering in the hospital, but he will have permanent physical damage and psychological trauma. I heard the pain in that mother’s voice, and I hope you can hear the frustration in my voice.
We’ve had enough of this. It has to stop. We don’t need another crisis to deal with.
We created the Fireworks Task Force to work on ways to address this. They have begun meeting and are focusing on outreach and communication. We need everyone to know what the dangers are and what the impacts are to your neighbors. I want to remind you, if you hear or see fireworks in your neighborhood, call 911. Fireworks are illegal in Massachusetts and they cannot be carried over state lines. If you are aware of anyone buying or selling fireworks illegally, you can anonymously call the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1–800–494-TIPS (8477), or text the word “TIP” to the number “CRIME,” that’s 27463.
