Rollback strategies eyed
Walsh, city looking at options
Mayor Martin Walsh says the worsening coronavirus counts aren’t going to cause him to shut things down quite yet — though he is meeting with his health officials for “recommendations” about what potential shutdowns would look like.
Walsh acknowledged the steadily deteriorating coronavirus stats, saying they’re “certainly very concerning.” He said he’s already met with Boston Health Chief Marty Martinez to talk about potential next steps, and would be doing so again later on Thursday.
He said “we’re not rolling back today,” but they’ll be talking about “some of the recommendations over what a potential rollback would look like.”
“We’re going to go through to see — if we do have to roll back, what what would those be,” Walsh said of next steps. “In the event that we need to roll back — we don’t have to today — but in the event we need to roll back, we will not hesitate.”
He said the focus will be on how new restrictions would work — would the city target a specific industry, would it go backward on the state phased reopening plan, or would it do something else.
Asked about specifics, Walsh declined for him or Martinez to elaborate further.
“I’m not speculating right now, because then there’d be a story about speculation about rolling back,” the mayor said.
The city reported 470 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, another high mark after a few days back down below 400. The daily count spiked from the 200s up above 400 and then 500 last week following Thanksgiving, reaching numbers not seen since the spring.
A semi-weekly report released Wednesday showed the city over its “thresholds for concern” for three marks involving the positive test rate and the number of people catching the virus. Last month, officials said meeting multiple marks would probably lead to new restrictions.
Asked about that on Thursday, Walsh said the hospitalization stats, which are worsening but remain below their thresholds, are the ones the city is zeroing in on.
“It really is about hospitalization. It’s about capacity,” Walsh said.
Asked about the number of beds available, Martinez noted that around 300 people are in Boston hospitals with the virus — a mark that was around 1,600 in the first peak of the pandemic.
Walsh announced that about 1,700 students with special needs will begin to be able to return to schools next week, and the city continues to plan for rolling out a school district reopening after the Christmas break.
He also said that the city is readying an an outdoor dining pilot program similar to the one restaurants were able to use until this past December, using desig
nated public space for tables as people try to avoid spending time congregating inside during the pandemic. This new program is slated to begin April 1.