“There’s a very high level of COVID in your community,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders, addressing people in those areas. She urged them to ‘respect the virus’ and take steps such as wearing masks, staying 6 feet apart, washing their hands and staying home from work when they are sick.
Indicating average daily cases per 100,000 inhabitants as a metric that many states use to measure community health, Baker said the 33 communities, which had more than 4 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, had “specific strategies” needed to attack COVID there, and to work with them to spread it. “
Baker said he and Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito have over the past few days reached out to their leaders in high and moderate risk communities “because we want to work with them in whatever way makes the most sense to help them. with the spread in their communities. ”
He said the state’s’ key strategy was to work with local government. “Every community is different,” he said, but the state could help with “additional testing, tracking and isolation resources. And we are also implementing step-by-step enforcement measures, and we will also work with these communities on messaging and other communication strategies as we and they fine. “
“The good news here should not be lost,” Baker said. “Three hundred and eighteen communities here in Massachusetts are on or below national benchmarks regarding the inclusion of COVID-19 in their communities.”
But he also warned: ‘I want to be clear on one point. Regardless of where your community sits, COVID does not go away. Your actions, regardless of where you live or where you work, will in many ways determine how this virus spreads. “
“We ask everyone to recognize that this virus continues to affect, injure and kill people every day,” he said.
The state issued a color-coded map of all the cities and towns in the state showing them in red, yellow, green, and white, depending on their current level of coronavirus.
Baker said red indicated that a community had more than 8 average daily cases per 100,000, yellow was 4 to 8 per 100,000, green was less than 4 per 100,000, and white indicated that there were less than 5 total cases in the last 14 days report.
Chelsea, Everett, Lynn, and Revere were the only communities marked in red in red that officials said would be updated weekly. Boston, Worcester, and Springfield were all in yellow. The state did not immediately release a full list.
Baker noted that on Friday he had announced the establishment of a multi-agency enforcement and intervention team, saying his mission to raise enforcement and coordinate local intervention matches “would make the most sense” in the community and high -risk communities.
“The virus does not cross borders. It certainly takes every opening that one of us gives it. “We are making progress and we have made progress in our fight, but we have seen the effects of too many people abandoning your protection,” he said.
Baker also suggested that the numbers be argued for letting children return to schools, which parents in less affected cities have argued.
“We would certainly hope that, based on this data, if you are in a green or white community, I can not suggest a good reason not to go back, whether it is full time or in some kind of hybrid, because for ‘all intentions and meetings meet all the benchmarks that are used in the country, in New England, to make decisions about whether it is safe to go back to school,’ he said.
Both Baker and Sudders stress the importance of wearing face masks, especially for those in higher-risk communities.
“Masks work,” Sudders said. “Always wear a face mask when outside your home.”
Suders encourage people themselves to wear a mask in their homes’ if an elderly individual or someone with a compromised medical condition is part of your immediate household, and safe distance can not be maintained and other members of your household will work [or] participate in recreational activities outside the home. ”
Sudders also noted that Baker’s new meeting order, which went into effect on Tuesday, now requires face coverage at private events where more than 10 people from different households will mix.
Baker emphasized that point and stated: ‘If you put a bunch of people in your house or in your backyard and they are not the immediate people you have in your house every day that you live in, then people should wear face masks, and they must respect the fact that we have a lot of asymptomatic transmission. “
Baker’s office did not immediately release a list, but a Globe review of the map indicated that, in addition to the four high-risk communities, the 29 moderate-risk communities were: Northampton, Holyoke, Chicopee, Springfield, Longmeadow, Granby, Belchertown, Charlton, Auburn, Worcester, Marlborough, Framingham, Maynard, Wrentham, Taunton, Fall River, Brockton, Randolph, Quincy, Hull, Boston, Winthrop, Malden, Saugus, Peabody, Salem, Middleton, Lawrence and Georgetown.
The coronavirus went through the state this spring, but is now at much lower levels. The state has recorded 8,741 confirmed and probable deaths from coronavirus as of Monday. One model says the death toll after Dec. 1 is likely to climb more than 10,000.
The state is in Phase 3 of an in-phase recovery process, but recent upticks in coronavirus methods have raised concerns among state officials and public health experts.
Globe staff member Peter Bailey-Wells contributed to this report.
Martin finucane can be reached at [email protected] Jaclyn Reiss can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter: @JaclynReiss
