BOSTON, MA – Eleven days ago, 29 members of the Task Force on Coronavirus & Equity, including the Massachusetts Public Health Association (MPHA), issued an open letter to Governor Baker, urging him to delay increasing indoor capacity limits as part of his reopening plan. Now, infection rates are rising across the state, the number of high risk “red” communities is steadily increasing, and Massachusetts is making national headlines for its resurgence.

“The Governor must act to reduce indoor capacity limits on restaurants, exhibition and convention halls, theaters, museums and other indoor venues,” said MPHA Executive Director Carlene Pavlos. “Action must be swift if we are to prevent another wave of infections – and the hospitalizations and deaths that will follow.”

“Governor Baker has said repeatedly that he is following the science, yet he is now disregarding the most up-to-date guidance from the CDC, which strongly recommends that states keep mitigation measures in place until a greater share of the population is vaccinated,” continued Pavlos. “If the Governor asserts that he is listening to public health experts, he should be transparent and name his advisors. The people being put at risk by his actions deserve to know whose guidance is driving these decisions.”

The lifting of many indoor restrictions in Massachusetts comes at the same time that more infectious variants of COVID-19, including the B.1.17 variant (first identified in the United Kingdom) and the B.1.351 variant (first identified in South Africa) are spreading across the state. The challenge created by these variants has recently caused several European countries to resort to lockdowns once again.

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