Hard-hit Massachusetts worries COVID-19 respite is fleeting

A house party attended by restaurant workers in a picturesque beach town in Massachusetts has led to more than a dozen new coronavirus infections.

On the western side of the state, a Springfield hospital is dealing with an outbreak of at least 40 cases traced to a hospital staffer who recently returned from an out-of-state vacation.

Less than a month after Massachusetts allowed gyms, movie theaters, museums and other public venues to reopen on July 6, there’s an increasing sense of dread that the hard-hit state’s summertime respite from the pandemic is waning just as families are looking ahead to the start of school.

“Pay attention #Massachusetts — #COVID19 is on the rise. The numbers show it. The anecdotes show it,” Dr. David Rosman, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, said in a series of widely shared tweets Sunday.

Rosman, who is also the associate chair of radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, said in a followup interview Wednesday that the recent uptick should be a clarion call to redouble virus prevention efforts in Massachusetts. The state has more than 8,300 deaths from COVID-19, among the highest in the nation.

He and others have also urged Republican Gov. Charlie Baker to consider rolling back his decision to move the state into the third phase of his reopening plan if case numbers don’t improve.

In the Boston suburb of Somerville, home to Tufts University, Mayor Joseph Curtatone has voiced similar concerns for weeks.

Rather than enacting Phase 3 of Baker's plan, the Democratic mayor has opted to hold fast to the state’s previous, stricter guidelines within his densely packed city of roughly 80,000 residents. The state’s new reopening measures now won’t take effect at least until Aug. 3 in Somerville.

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