As Christmas diminishes and preparations for New Year’s Eve begin, new restrictions have come into effect in Massachusetts aimed at curbing a new rise in the COVID-19 cases with holidays.
According to Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, there is great concern that this will happen again after the end-of-year festive season.
“I’m very, very worried that we’re going to see a big new boom over the next few weeks on top of a boom of new infections,” he told NBC10 Boston.
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But when would evidence of the boom probably appear? Thanksgiving, which inspired the new restrictions, can make sense.
“There’s no doubt that the informal gatherings that took place … around Thanksgiving had a huge impact on our test scores and a huge impact on our hospitalizations,” Government Secretary Charlie Baker said a week before Christmas. said a news conference. “Thanksgiving has set us back.”
In those cases, the holiday in Massachusetts follows – despite a report in the travel numbers around Thanksgiving compared to a normal year. Just not right away.
In the first days following Thursday 26 November, the number of cases remains relatively equal. On Nov. 27, the day after Thanksgiving, Massachusetts averaged about 2,400 newly confirmed coronavirus cases per day, according to figures from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
Medical experts across the country and here in Massachusetts are increasingly concerned that we may soon see an increase in COVID numbers after Thanksgiving, which could cause a surge in a boom.
The upswing took place the following week as daily average cases rose drastically. Beginning Monday, Nov. 30, newly reported cases rose 10% or more for four consecutive days, culminating in a 20% jump from Dec. 2 to Dec. 3. By December 4, the average number of cases reported each day. Reached 4,300, the day after Thanksgiving is almost double the figure.
The average COVID-19 test positivity in the condition has meanwhile started to climb even earlier. After staying between 3% and 3.3% two weeks before Thanksgiving, the number had already started to rise on 24 November. But ten days later, on December 4, the average rate reached 6% for the first time since June 1. .
Baker urged Bay Staters to leave holiday celebrations, and said earlier this month that “we really can not have it the kind of consequential event that was Thanksgiving in Massachusetts.”
And the governor is appealing for the increase after Thanksgiving Day when he announced the new set of rules on Tuesday.
He said that, seven days after the Thanksgiving, we saw a big bump in positive cases. ‘Hospitals’ beds for acute care went up during the holidays from 67% to a high of 83% on December 15, about three weeks after Thanksgiving.
Government Charlie Baker announces new restrictions to Massa residents to prevent another surge in coronavirus, including reducing capacity for most industries to 25% and reducing indoor gatherings to a maximum of 10 people.
The new rules, which began on Saturday and will last for at least two weeks, have reduced occupancy to 25% for a wide range of businesses, including restaurants, places of worship, fitness centers and retail.
Indoor gatherings and events are limited to only 10 people, while outdoor gatherings and events may not have more than 25 people. Workers and staff are not included in the number of occupations of events, but the limits apply to private homes as well as gatherings and public spaces.
Baker waited for these round restrictions to begin until after Christmas to hold religious celebrations, including many Christians to physically attend the traditional Mass. He hoped people would continue to celebrate safely, he said.
If a resurgence after Christmas is similar to that of Thanksgiving, a sharp increase in cases could begin on Monday or Tuesday.
Government Charlie Baker pointed out that more restrictions could minimize the impact of another significant boom, when he made a plea to the residents of Christmas and begged them to stay home for the holidays.
New Year is also part of the comparison, as the new restrictions are also aimed at that holiday and the week between it and Christmas, when many schools are out of session and families traditionally visit each other, Baker said.
Jha said he expects the boom to be clear from January 4 or 5, a few days after the end of the festival week. He said it could take five to seven days for thrusts to become apparent.
“It takes a while – before people get infected, develop symptoms, get tested and the data has to be reported,” Jha said.
There may not be a new boom in Massachusetts, but the trip suggests that people visited family and friends during the holidays, despite experts and officials warning against it.
While airports around the holidays looked army as usual, many people continued to travel despite advice.
Lines were seen at ticket counters at Boston Logan International Airport on Monday morning, which saw the wrong traffic through the pandemic, and the U.S. Transportation Administration reported 1.3 million people went through checkpoints Sunday, the most in a single day since March.
“What it tells me is that a lot of people are getting tired of staying home, and I understand that,” Jha said, adding: “The problem is that we are in the middle of the worst phase of the pandemic. “