July 4th Pops concert canceled; COVID-19 deaths top 4K in MA

BOSTON — Boston’s live Fourth of July concert with the Boston Pops with along the banks of the Charles River has been canceled to help limit the spread of the coronanirus.

The Pops announced Friday they will instead present A Boston Pops Salute to Our Heroes, designed to pay tribute to the frontline workers and honor those who have died during the current health crisis.

The virtual concert will feature newly created content from The Boston Pops and guest artists, as well as highlights from recent presentations of The Boston Pops fireworks spectacular.

“All of us at the Boston Pops are pleased to have this opportunity to pay tribute to the many and various frontline workers who have been the glue holding our communities together since this health crisis began, and to honor those who have lost their lives due to the coronavirus,” said conductor Keith Lockhart

The fireworks display that traditionally accompanies the concert has also been canceled.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said Friday during a press conference that other traditional parades and festivals will not take place in the city this summer up to and including Labor Day.

“We do not envision at this point, this summer, when it will make sense to have large scale crowds gathered in close contact for any prolonged periods of time,” Walsh said.

Gov. Charlie Baker said he understood Walsh’s decision.

“It would be hard for me

to imagine given how popular those parades are, how you could ever deliver on a social distancing standard,” Baker said.

Here are the latest coronavirus-developments in Massachusetts:

COVID-19 UPDATE

Massachusetts recorded another 150 confirmed COVID-19-related deaths on Friday, bringing to 4,702 the total number of deaths recorded in the state since the pandemic’s start.

The total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Massachusetts topped 75,300 after the state reported an additional 1,600 individuals who tested positive for the disease caused by the coronavirus.

The latest COVID-19 numbers included some hopeful signs.

The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care continued to decline down to 826, while the total number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has also fallen to more than 3,300 Friday.

The number of deaths at long-term care facilities stands at 2,837 — or more than 60% of all COVID-19-related deaths in the state.

HOSPITAL FURLOUGHS

A Massachusetts hospital group announced that it is furloughing about 600 workers, or 10% of its labor force, because of “historic” financial losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

Cape Cod Healthcare, the parent company of Cape Cod and Falmouth hospitals, faces a $74 million loss this fiscal year, President and CEO Michael Lauf said Thursday.

“Today was a bad day for Cape Cod Healthcare,” Lauf said at a news conference. “I never thought in my 12 years here I would have to do what I did today.”

Only bedside nurses and those on the front lines fighting the pandemic were spared, Lauf said.

Physicians, nurses, technicians, aides, parking lot attendants and other positions were affected, he said.

In addition to the furloughs that take effect Sunday, management and executives are taking salary cuts of up to 12.5%, Lauf said.

In a statement, Shannon Sherman, chair of the Massachusetts Nurses Association bargaining unit at Cape Cod Hospital, called it a “callous and short-sighted decision.”

PASTORS’ LETTERS

The pastors of more than 250 Massachusetts churches have signed a letter to Gov. Charlie Baker asking to be declared “essential” so they can be included in the first phase of the state’s reopening scheduled for May 18.

The letter also asks that clergy be included on the state’s Reopening Advisory Board.

“We have seen how marijuana dispensaries, liquor stores and abortion clinics have all been deemed ‘essential,’ but churches and other places of worship have not. We are grieved by this, but we have been patient, and peaceful,” the letter said.

The letter said if allowed to reopen, their churches would follow all distancing guidelines to keep their congregations safe and healthy.

The pastors mostly represented Protestant denominations, but Roman Catholic and Orthodox pastors also signed.

“The administration is thankful for the individuals, businesses and organizations that are playing their part to stay home, stop the spread and protect at risk populations, and the administration is working to return to a new normal as safely and as soon as possible,” Ryan Boehm, an administration spokesman said in an email.

GUN SHOPS

Baker said Friday that his administration won’t fight a federal judge’s ruling that will allow gun shops in Massachusetts to reopen.

“We’re going to comply with whatever he says,” Baker said at an afternoon press conference.

The judge said Baker’s order closing gun shops was illegal because it violated the U.S. Constitution.