Source – https:\/\/www.sentinelandenterprise.com\/<\/p>\n
Many parts of Massachusetts are moving into a new phase of reopening Monday even as coronavirus metrics hit numbers that haven\u2019t been seen since the height of the pandemic \u2014 leading medical experts to question Gov. Charlie Baker\u2019s decision to forge ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to stay where we are and watch things carefully and keep our guard up,\u201d Boston University infectious diseases specialist Davidson Hamer said. \u201cI can\u2019t read his mind, but I just wonder if he\u2019s under a lot of pressure from businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n
All but 29 of the Bay State\u2019s 351 cities and towns are allowed to move forward with step two of the third phase of reopening on Monday, which allows indoor performance venues, roller rinks and fitting rooms to reopen, places such as gyms and museums to increase their capacity and outdoor gathering limits to bump up to 100.<\/p>\n
At the same time, the state\u2019s\u00a0coronavirus reproduction rate\u00a0has climbed to its highest rate since the end of March,\u00a0weekly case totals rose throughout September\u00a0and new daily cases crossed 700 twice in the past week \u2014 a number not seen since the height of the pandemic.<\/p>\n
Twenty-three communities\u00a0landed in the state\u2019s red zone\u00a0for being at a high virus risk last week as well, the highest since the state switched to the color-coded risk assessment system in August. The seven-day average positive test rate has also ticked up over 1% again, after hitting a low of 0.8%.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re at a point where caution and weekly reassessment is needed and if we make a mistake and things get out of control, we\u2019ll have to go back to more draconian measures,\u201d Hamer said.<\/p>\n
Baker has repeatedly defended his decision to expand indoor dining and this week to increase capacity at retail and other establishments even as cases have started to rise, noting the state\u2019s positive test rate has tumbled from 10% to around 1% for the past couple of months.<\/p>\n
Contact tracing, he said, shows \u201cthe biggest concern\u201d is\u00a0\u201cinformal, no-rules, no-guidance gatherings\u201d\u00a0and not work.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people are going to say we\u2019re going too fast and some people are going to say we\u2019re going too slow,\u201d Baker said. But \u201cwe rethink the reopening pretty much every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dr. Irwin Redlener, head of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, said there\u2019s no cut-and-dried answer for governors, who have to play \u201c3D chess\u201d managing the at-times competing pressures of public health, the economy and the desire to get kids back to school.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are no easy answers to come by,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Todd Ellerin, director of infectious diseases at South Shore Health, said the uptick here is predictable with students returning to classrooms at all levels. But cases nationally and here in Massachusetts are \u201cobviously going in the wrong direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t fault the governor for pressing forward, although I have to say, this is a very tough time to do it,\u201d Ellerin said. \u201cI would feel more comfortable if this were the spring going into summer.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5476,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2940,1136,3540,104,1726,3552,3541],"class_list":["post-5475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-coronavirus","tag-experts","tag-massachusetts","tag-medical","tag-pandemic","tag-question","tag-reopening"],"yoast_head":"\n