The head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday doubled her warnings against pushing back COVID-19 restrictions at the state level, while Gov. Charlie Baker expressed confidence that his plan to weaken economic recovery rules was ‘appropriate’. at the current connection.
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On the same day that dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, again urged governors and state leaders not to soften the limits designed to keep the highly contagious virus at bay, Baker defends the ‘balancing act’ behind his decision.
Both Walensky and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, dr. Anthony Fauci, has said in recent days that moving too fast to ease limits could undo the progress made in the national effort to limit the transfer.
Asked about Fauci’s comments, Baker said 1.2 million Massachusetts residents received the first doses of the vaccine and 550,000 received second doses, many of which are the groups most vulnerable to COVID-19. The hospitalization rate, the number of cases and the daily case rates of the state have also decreased over the past month.
“We were of the opinion that, based on the data and the success of the vaccine vaccination so far, it is appropriate to make adjustments,” Baker said. ‘The adjustments we are making today basically go back to where we were last before the second boom, and we will continue to review the data every day and every week, and if we see things in the data that are relevant has on us, we will make adjustments again. But I think it’s important for everyone to understand that it’s a constant balance, and I think it made sense at this point in time based on the data to make adjustments regarding the reopening. ‘
The capacity constraints at businesses in Massachusetts rose from 40 percent to 50 percent on Monday, and several sectors such as indoor performance venues and recreational activities are now allowed to reopen.
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Restaurants no longer have a percentage-based capacity limit, but must enforce a social distance of twenty meters, limit tables to six customers and allow a maximum of 90 minutes per visit. They will also be allowed to present musical performances.
When he announced the shift on Thursday, Baker also set a target for reopening later in March, which would allow large venues with more than 5,000 seats to bring back 12 percent of guests.
Walensky, who headed the Massachusetts General Hospital’s Infectious Diseases Division before being used to direct the CDC, said Monday she was concerned about a “possible shift in the trajectory of the pandemic.”
After a period of sustained decline in new cases, Walensky said national data show that infections are declining at a high plateau. The most recent seven-day average of 67,200 newly-established cases is about 2 percent higher than the previous seven days, she said.
“With these new statistics, I am very concerned about reports that more states are reproducing the exact social health measures we have recommended to protect people from COVID-19,” Walensky said. “I understand the temptation to do so. Seventy thousand cases a day looked good compared to where we were just a few months ago. But we can not rely on 70,000 cases a day, 2,000 daily deaths. ‘
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The growing presence of newer COVID-19 strains, which experts say could spread more easily, further complicates the picture.
“Please hear me clearly: at this level of affairs, with variants spreading, we could completely lose the hard-earned ground we have gained,” Walensky said. He also warned against weakening restrictions on Friday. ‘These variants are a real threat to our people and our progress. This is not the time to spread the critical precautions we know by slowing down the spread of COVID-19 in our communities, not when we are so close. ‘
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