RESIDENTS OF LONG-TERM CARE facilities across the state are testing positive for COVID-19 in growing numbers, raising concerns that the highly contagious virus could sweep through a very vulnerable population. […]
Health
Posted inHealth Care
Physician assistants provide workforce flexibility
MICHELLE SHKNEVSKY, a general surgery physician assistant at Brockton Hospital, is actually seeing fewer patients since the COVID-19 epidemic began. With no elective surgeries being performed, her unit needs fewer […]
Posted inHealth Care
Dr. Lee: ICU units won’t beat this disease
This is the fourth 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 inHealth Care
705 to 2,580 COVID-19 deaths projected in Mass.
A GROUP OF EXPERTS assembled by the Baker administration is projecting that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases during the course of the pandemic in Massachusetts is going to rise […]
Posted inNews Analysis, Politics
Democrats, Republicans divided over coronavirus threat
OVER THE WEEKEND, public health experts warned that the national death toll from the coronavirus could kill up to 200,000 people, escalating the risk faced by the country. Despite these […]
Posted inHealth Care
Patriots plane delivers 1m masks from China
MASSACHUSETTS LANDED about 1 million N95 medical-grade respirator masks on Thursday through a humanitarian mission orchestrated by the Baker administration with the help of US and Chinese officials and the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Virus notes: Franklin Cty. reports 3 more deaths
THREE MORE COVID-19 deaths were reported on Wednesday in tiny Franklin County, bringing its total to seven and solidifying its position as the Massachusetts county with the most deaths per […]
Posted inHealth Care
To mask or not to mask
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER, who is leading efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 in Massachusetts, doesn’t see a need to wear a mask as he holds press conferences at the […]
Posted inHealth Care
How vets died of COVID-19 and no one knew
IT TOOK EIGHT VETERANS’ DEATHS and five days before the head of the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home informed state and local public health authorities about the extent of the COVID-19 outbreak […]
Posted inEducation, Health Care, State House News Service
Virus notes: Franklin emerges as hotspot
NEW NUMBERS RELEASED on Tuesday show just how quickly the coronavirus situation can change, as confirmed cases continued a steady rise, deaths jumped dramatically, and two of the state’s smallest […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker extends state shutdown until May 4
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Tuesday urged Massachusetts residents to continue all existing social distancing measures and ordered all non-essential businesses to keep their offices and factories closed until May 4. […]
Posted inEconomy
40 percent of Mass. residents expecting financial hardships
OVER THE COURSE of just a few weeks in March, the markets set records for crashes, unemployment claims shattered records for increases, and economic activity the world over slowed to […]
Posted inHealth Care
Berkshire County a COVID-19 hotspot
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 […]
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 inUncategorized
Holyoke’s Alex Morse adapts to the curveballs
First in a series about mayors across Massachusetts and how they’re contending with the COVID-19 pandemic. DON’T ASK HOLYOKE MAYOR Alex Morse about his typical day right now – there […]
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 […]
