DEATHS FROM COVID-19 are occurring in Berkshire County at a much higher rate than other counties in Massachusetts and most communities around the country. Berkshire County in the western part […]
Health Care
Posted inHealth Care
11 die at Holyoke Soldiers’ Home amid COVID-19 outbreak
BENNETT WALSH, the superintendent of the state-run Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, was placed on paid administrative leave on Monday, after 11 residents died at the home amid an outbreak of COVID-19. […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Judge asks for list of ICE detainees for potential release
A FEDERAL JUDGE stopped short of ordering the release of federal immigration detainees being held in the Bristol County House of Correction, but he urged officials not to send new […]
Posted inHealth Care
The surge is coming
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER said on Monday that the long expected surge in COVID-19 cases is expected to arrive in Massachusetts sometime between April 7 and April 17, and he used […]
Posted inHealth Care
Virus notes: Mass. among top states on testing
MASSACHUSETTS IS MOVING into the very top tier of states doing testing for COVID-19. As of Sunday evening, the state had conducted 39,066 tests, placing it fifth among the states […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker public health commissioner tests positive
DR. MONICA BHAREL, the commissioner of the state Department of Public Health and one of Gov. Charlie Baker’s top lieutenants in the battle against COVID-19, has tested positive for the […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Virus notes: How long will this go on?
IT’S FRIDAY, which is normally a time to break away from the work-week routine. But this weekend not much is going to change. Saturday and Sunday will look pretty much […]
Posted inHealth Care
All travelers to Mass. urged to self-quarantine
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Friday asked all travelers arriving in Massachusetts from out of state to voluntarily self-quarantine for 14 days. The governor said information on the self-quarantine effort would […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Virus notes: Frustrated Baker almost says God-damned
IN A SIGN of his growing frustration with the challenges associated with acquiring personal protective equipment for frontline medical workers, Gov. Charlie Baker almost said “God damned” at a televised […]
Posted inHealth Care
COVID-19 doesn’t discriminate by age
NO ONE IS IMMUNE to COVID-19, but teens and pre-teens come pretty close. The latest data from the state Department of Public Health indicate just over 70 percent of those […]
Posted inHealth Care
Dr. Lee: Preparing for the surge
This is the third conversation between Dr. Jarone Lee, a frontline critical care physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and associate professor at Harvard Medical School, and Dr. Paul Hattis, an […]
Posted inEducation
Baker closes Mass. schools through May 4
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Wednesday ordered all schools and non-emergency childcares closed through May 4, extending the current three-week suspension by an additional month in order to slow the spread […]
Posted inHealth Care
Good news: State hitting target for COVID-19 tests
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION appeared to exceed its target goal for daily COVID-19 testing on Tuesday, reporting that 4,827 patients had been tested over the previous 24 hours. The increase was […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
COVID-19 cases at Bridgewater prison facility up to 10
THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT of Correction says eight prisoners, one staff member, and one medical provider have tested positive for coronavirus – all of them at the Massachusetts Treatment Center in […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker criticizes Senate, not Trump
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER harshly criticized the US Senate for failing to quickly reach an agreement on a stimulus package for the country but shied away from taking on President Trump […]
Posted inHealth Care
Harvard’s Bacow, wife test positive for COVID-19
HARVARD UNIVERSITY President Larry Bacow said on Tuesday that he and his wife tested positive for COVID-19. In an email sent to the Harvard community on Tuesday, Bacow said he […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
As COVID-19 hits prisons, worry spreads
WITH THREE PRISONERS and one corrections officer diagnosed with the coronavirus at the Massachusetts Treatment Center in Bridgewater, the Department of Correction has developed a response plan for containment of […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker orders non-essential businesses shuttered
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER is ordering all non-essential businesses in Massachusetts to shut their physical operations as of noon on Tuesday. The order will remain in effect through April 7 at […]
Posted inOpinion
Worcester pursues interesting COVID-19 homeless option
IN TIMES OF TRUE CRISIS, true leaders emerge. And at a moment when shelter providers across the Commonwealth are being asked to ignore the recommended protocols established to stop the […]
Posted inOpinion
Slowing the spread of COVID-19 the right way
THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC is rapidly evolving. Massachusetts, like the rest of the world, is working to hone its response to this novel coronavirus. State residents have accepted physical distancing, work […]
Posted inHealth Care
College dorms seen as surge capacity
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER and Boston Mayor Martin Walsh had “very productive” conversations Saturday with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers around identifying, retrofitting, and using college dorms, closed nursing homes, […]
Posted inCriminal Justice, Health Care
Detainees at jail say they fear COVID-19 outbreak
IMMIGRANT DETAINEES being held by the federal government at the Bristol County House of Correction say they are packed so close together that an outbreak of COVID-19 would spread rapidly […]
Posted inHealth Care
Virus notes: 1st COVID-19 death in Mass.
A SUFFOLK COUNTY MAN in his late 80s died Thursday night from COVID-19, becoming the state’s first fatality from the disease. “Obviously, it’s heartbreaking to say, but this is certainly […]
Posted inHealth Care
What our COVID-19 daily diary tells us
AT 4 P.M. EVERY DAY, the state Department of Public Health releases its daily diary of the coronavirus epidemic. The numbers on confirmed cases, tests, and hospitalizations rip through the […]
