THE NUMBER OF COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes topped 3,000 on Sunday, even as other indicators suggested the spread of the disease is slowing. COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes increased […]
COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes top 3,000
Posted inHealth Care
Surprising racial twist in COVID-19 data
A SURPRISING RACIAL and ethnic dynamic appears to be emerging in the coronavirus data gathered by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Hispanic and black people are suffering from COVID-19 […]
Posted inUncategorized
How Newton bridged the housing divide
THIS IS A STORY about a fight over a new large housing development in Newton. Such stories, which involve stiff local opposition, play themselves out hundreds of times yearly in […]
Posted inEducation
An early education system for a post-pandemic world
WHEN FAMILIES WITH children emerge from home or fall back from the frontlines, the world will be very different. Parents looking for work or trying to keep our jobs will […]
Posted inHealth Care
We’re getting there on COVID-19
THE STATE’S COVID-19 indicators trended in a positive direction on Friday, with new cases, hospitalizations, and patients in intensive care units all falling. “We’ve seen progress and we’ll continue to […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker extols telehealth’s rise during pandemic
ONLY A FEW short months ago, Gov. Charlie Baker appeared before a legislative committee on Beacon Hill to plug legislation containing a provision that would require insurers to cover telehealth visits. “The fact that […]
Posted inOpinion
No, no, no to buy, buy, buy
FOR MOST OF OUR almost 50-year history, MASSPIRG has pushed for increased recycling, for stopping polluting landfills and incinerators, and for getting producers to be responsible for their products. Over […]
Posted inEconomy
Restaurants losing money on delivery orders
EL JEFE’S TAQUERIA, a casual Mexican restaurant in Cambridge’s Harvard Square, used to generate about a quarter of its sales through home delivery. Because of the commissions paid to delivery […]
Posted inHealth Care
Prepping for a possible round two
EVEN AS STATES begin to reopen, a growing chorus of researchers and doctors are openly worrying that there could be a resurgence of coronavirus, possibly in the fall. Conventional wisdom […]
Posted inThe Download
Prepping for a possible round two
Even as states begin to reopen, a growing chorus of researchers and doctors are openly worrying that there could be a resurgence of coronavirus, possibly in the fall. Conventional wisdom […]
Posted inHealth Care
Study finds no benefit of anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine promoted by Trump
THE LARGEST STUDY to date of hydroxychloroquine, the antimalarial drug touted by President Trump as a potential “game-changer” in the treatment of coronavirus, found no evidence of a benefit in […]
Posted inOpinion
Can Mass. launch the fusion revolution?
SINCE THE 1950s physicists have researched something they knew was theoretically possible but technically challenging: the effective generation of fusion energy as a substitute for carbon-based power. The prospect of […]
Posted inHealth Care
Virus notes: Baker appeals for contact tracing support
THE STATE’S EFFORT to slow the spread of the coronavirus by reaching out to those infected and tracking down their close contacts is off to a quick start, but it […]
Posted inEconomy
Baker says data will dictate state’s reopening schedule
HOW WILL GOV. CHARLIE BAKER decide when to reopen businesses and services? “Data, data, data” and the actions of other states were the two factors Baker mentioned on Thursday when […]
Posted inOpinion
I’m seeing promising ventilator death data
This is the ninth conversation between Dr. Jarone Lee, a frontline critical care and emergency physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, and Dr. Paul […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Judge orders COVID-19 testing for ICE detainees
DECLARING THAT A lawsuit filed on behalf of immigration detainees was likely to succeed in demonstrating “deliberate indifference” to their risk of contracting COVID-19, a federal judge ordered coronavirus testing […]
Posted inThe Download
When will Massachusetts reopen?
Gov. Charlie Baker’s stay-at-home advisory and closure of non-essential businesses expire May 18. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, who is leading a task force that will guide the reopening, said Monday […]
Posted inHealth Care
When will Massachusetts reopen?
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER’S stay-at-home advisory and closure of non-essential businesses expire May 18. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, who is leading a task force that will guide the reopening, said Monday that […]
Posted inEconomy
Limits on independent contracting hurt employers and workers
CARING FOR A tsunami of patients in the midst of a pandemic is hard enough. Unfortunately, laws in Massachusetts and California make the job even harder by preventing hospitals and […]
Posted inUncategorized
Galvin lays out plan for mail-in voting by request
SECRETARY OF THE COMMONWEALTH William Galvin on Wednesday released his proposal for expanding early and mail-in voting for the fall elections, even as influential lawmakers released a competing – and […]
Posted inOpinion
This summer will be key time in education
COVID-19 HAS LIFTED the veil on the disparities in health and education based on race, income, and geography. The underlying conditions that preceded the pandemic are now front page news. […]
Posted inUncategorized
Boston Globe announces layoffs
THE BOSTON GLOBE laid off two union employees and an unspecified number of nonunion employees on Wednesday in response to a downturn in revenue caused by the COVID-19 business shutdown. […]
Posted inHealth Care
The state’s two-front war on COVID-19
THE NUMBER OF COVID-19 deaths in Massachusetts spiked on Wednesday, hitting the third-highest daily level since the pandemic began. The state Department of Public Health reported that 208 people died […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Recordings of detainees at Bristol jail released
AN ADVOCATE FOR TWO immigration detainees at the Bristol County Jail released two phone recordings from inside the facility briefly describing the confrontation with Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson and […]