My updates relating to COVID-19 for Tuesday, November 17, 2020.
Below are Mayor Walsh’s remarks for Tuesday, November 17, 2020.
The state numbers: yesterday, there were 1,967 new confirmed cases, for a total of 184,511 cases. There were 12 new deaths reported, bringing the total number of people passed away from COVID-19 in the Commonwealth to 10,110.
In Boston yesterday, we had 293 new confirmed cases, for a total of 24,159. We had four new deaths since Friday. The total is 888.
We keep the people sick and suffering with COVID-19 in our thoughts and prayers. The families that lost loved ones, we’re thinking of you and praying for you as well.
Testing data: For the week ending on November 12, an average of 2,340 new Boston residents got tested each day. The average number of daily positive tests went up to 224 as well in that timeline. The result was a positive test rate among unique individuals of 9.6% on our existing metric. Seven neighborhoods had positive rates over 10% of COVID-19. East Boston, Dorchester, and Hyde Park saw the highest rates.
Our free mobile testing sites remain this week in East Boston, at Central Square Park and Mattapan, at Jubilee Christian Church. In all, we have over 30 testing sites in the City of Boston. Information about all the testing sites is at boston.gov/coronavirus, or you can call 311.
A word about our metrics. As we have said from the start, to keep people safe and contain this virus, we have to follow the science, and we have to follow the data. What that means is our public health experts collect comprehensive testing data and hospital data here in the City. They analyze it to understand how and where the virus is spreading, and the impact it is having in our City and the different neighborhoods. We shape our response and our guidance based on what the data indicates. We share the data with you, so you can be armed with knowledge to help keep yourself, your family, and your community safe.
That’s a process of continual feedback and learning from the data that we have been receiving since the beginning of COVID-19. This epidemic evolves, its impact on our neighborhoods evolves, and our knowledge about it evolves as well. So, we need to adapt and update our understanding of COVID spread in the community.
As I mentioned last week, our public health experts have been digging deep into the data to look at the trends. They have updated our metrics. Starting this week, we’re going to be publishing a total of six key measures to provide essential information about test results and hospital usage. The goal is to give you the most current and comprehensive picture of the virus as we can. So when people ask questions, they have the best understanding of this.
I’ll ask Chief Martinez to say more.
The more we know, and the more you know, the better informed and prepared we can all be throughout this pandemic. And what we all need to know right now is this: Every metric tells us that we are in the midst of a significant and concerning increase in COVID activity in our city and the Commonwealth. The daily case increases we are seeing are starting to look like numbers that we saw near our peak, in April and May here in the Commonwealth and the City of Boston. Hospital admissions are not at that level, but they have increased over time.
We have to be focused on turning this trend around. So we are looking closely at what steps we can take, to further limit the risk of transmission.
We have taken a cautious approach throughout this pandemic, making safety our priority. We pulled back on in-person learning in the Boston Public Schools. This week we were able to bring back 150 students with the highest needs, who desperately need in-person services. I want to thank our families and teachers for making that possible.
We have kept our limits on gathering sizes low. And we’ve worked with the state to limit restaurant hours and retail hours, and put in place a stay home advisory after 10:00 p.m. That’s very important. I know it’s stressful and it’s a tough time for businesses as we head into the holiday season, but it’s really important. It’s incumbent upon us to get these numbers down. If this activity continues to accelerate, and the numbers continue to go up, we’ll have to go further. I understand the impact it has on our economy. But, as we said in the spring, we must put the health of our community first. In the end, there is no economic recovery without public health.
This is one of the reasons we launched new small business relief funds this week. We want to support our small businesses. Our first Relief Fund and our Reopen Boston Fund have distributed close to $10 million. The Reopen Boston fund is still available for safety materials and PPE.
This week, we launched three funds with a total of $6.3 million available. They are targeted to the hardest-hit businesses in the hardest-hit industries.
One is for help paying commercial rent. Many of our small businesses have concerns about not having the ability to pay their rent.
One is for restaurants, to help them commit to paying a living wage to their workers. So their workers can earn a living and help pay the bills in their homes. It’s a partnership with some innovative national nonprofits, as well as the City Council. We’re working collectively together.
And another is for businesses certified as minority, women-owned, or veteran owned enterprises. Each of the funds provides grants of up to $15,000. We held webinars yesterday about how to apply, and those webinars are posted online. If you’re a small business, you can email SmallBiz@boston.gov, or call 311 and ask for our Office of Small Business.
We are ready to support our small businesses. We are ready to support our residents who need food access or rent relief. We are ready to bring extra support to communities that suffer from health care inequities and racism. And we are ready to support our nurses, our doctors, and our entire health care system.
We will do what it takes to get through this critical time together. It’s incumbent on all of us to continue working together on this. My message today is: we don’t have to go down that road. We can turn these numbers around. You’re seeing frightening surges all across the country. We are one of the places in America that went through a major surge already. We already know what to expect if we see a second surge. We know we have what it takes, to rapidly bring our numbers down. Quite honestly, between June, July and August, our infection rate was between 1.8 percent and 2.8 percent. That was the work of the people. That wasn’t anything any of us did in government. It was the work of us individually that collectively shows that power.
Wear a mask at all times outside the house. Wash your hands and wipe down surfaces. Avoid gatherings with groups outside your household. That’s something that is very important. If you’re going to a party with someone, you have no idea who they came in contact with. We need you to make sure you avoid those large gatherings. Period. I’m asking everyone, think carefully about any time you spend indoors around people who are not in your household.
Our contact tracing is showing two main locations where the virus is spreading: One is in workplaces and two is at gatherings in people’s homes.
In the workplace, people are letting their guard down. It’s understandable. You work with the same people every day, you feel like members of a household. But you have to remember, everyone is leaving work and being around different people and having different interactions. It takes one person to bring COVID into a workplace. So please, wear a mask at work, keep at least six feet of distance from coworkers, wash your hands and use hand sanitizer. Make sure you do that everyday, all day long.
Employers, continue to follow all the guidelines for ventilation, spacing, and capacity. And please continue to permit and promote working from home wherever possible. Many workers have no choice but to be on site, nurses, grocery store workers, cleaning staff, our first responders. But many employers do have that choice to make work from home possible. I am asking everyone who can to recommit to that as a priority, to help us get through this winter safely.
The other big area of transmission is private gatherings. With holidays coming up, this is something we should all be thinking about all of the time. We have guidance we’d like you to follow for Thanksgiving.
We’re asking you to spend Thanksgiving in person with only your current household. I know it’s tough not to have those extended family traditions, especially with all we’ve been through, in particular. But they present a big risk factor. If everyone does it, the odds of having outbreaks go up dramatically. Please make those connections virtually if you can. Remember, gratitude is what’s important on Thanksgiving.
If you feel you must be with your family, we’re asking you to keep it small and limit the number of guests. In Boston, indoor gatherings should be 10 people or less. There are no exceptions to this rule. Everyone should wear a mask when they are not eating or drinking, and everyone should stay six feet apart when possible. Look at how much space you have, and how many people can safely maintain distance. Look at your ventilation and open windows if needed. Consider spending time outdoors, weather permitting. Throughout the day, clean and disinfect frequently touched surfaces and items between use all day long. If you think you have a cold, you should not be gathering around anyone. If someone in the home you’re going to is not feeling well, you shouldn’t be going around that person either. It’s really important that we take care of our people. I know during the holidays we often spend time with parents and grandparents and older folks, and those folks are the most vulnerable. We have to be very careful for them as well. We have a range of guidelines for how to serve food safely that you can check out at boston.gov/coronavirus. And if you travel out of state, we’re asking you to follow the state guidelines on quarantine and testing when you return. In fact, everyone should get tested before Thanksgiving and after Thanksgiving if you are traveling.
Holidays are especially high risk for college students who don’t live at home. Normally, many students travel to their hometown for Thanksgiving and then return to campus for the rest of the term. We have asked colleges and students not to do that this year. If you go home for Thanksgiving, you should not be returning to Boston this semester. You should do the rest of your learning remotely.
I want to thank Emerson College and Suffolk University for simplifying the issue, going fully remote after Thanksgiving. I want to thank Boston University and Harvard for letting students know they should not return in person if they go home for Thanksgiving. And I want to thank the colleges and universities who are taking some version of this approach.
I am asking all our colleges and universities to take similar steps. We need you to help us contain the spread of this virus at a critical time.
I want to close by addressing the King Tide coastal flooding we saw once again, yesterday. This is a product of sea level rise that we know is being accelerated by climate change. It’s a reminder of the urgency we need on this issue.
It’s why we’re implementing a Climate Ready Boston plan, to build a resilient shoreline that protects our homes and businesses from flooding.
It’s why we’re spending at least 10% of our capital budget on resilience projects like Resilient Boston Harbor, that also create new open space.
It’s why we have a goal of being a 100% carbon neutral city by 2050, and a roadmap to get there. That goal requires investing in public transit, not by making cuts to the MBTA.
This afternoon at 2:00 p.m., I am leading a national discussion with the U.S. Climate Mayors. It’s a national coalition of 450 cities who never wavered in our commitment to the Paris Agreement, or to protecting our residents all across America from climate change. I’m honored and I’m grateful to have been named the new Chair of this organization.
Today, we will talk about how climate action will help our country recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. We face considerable challenges. But we have more reason for hope and optimism right now than we’ve had in a long time. We have an opportunity moving forward to partner with Washington that works with us and believes in science. And I will continue to take action in Boston while advocating for federal progress.
In Boston, we will continue to fight for our safety today and lead for a better tomorrow.
