MY OLDER SISTER Liza died on October 25, 2020, when all her struggles came to a head; no single factor was to blame. She did not treat or really acknowledge […]
Health
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
COVID spending bill grows to $101m, passes within hours
A $55 MILLION COVID-related spending bill ballooned into a $101 million bill under an agreement reached between House and Senate negotiators, which lawmakers sent to Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk just […]
Posted inUncategorized
Baker mask mandate, no longer in effect, facing challenge
THE STATEWIDE MASK mandate is no longer in effect, but litigation over it continues. The Supreme Judicial Court on Wednesday will hear oral arguments in a case challenging Gov. Charlie […]
Posted inEducation
Top Baker aides urge colleges to lead Mass. into endemic
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE TWO BAKER ADMINISTRATION Cabinet secretaries late last week urged college and university presidents to eschew strict campus-wide COVID-19 protocols and instead put their institutions at the […]
Posted inHealth Care
Michelle Wu’s vax dilemma
MICHELLE WU is signaling that she won’t back down from a fight – but also would desperately like to avoid one. As she navigates the latest of the many big […]
Posted inEducation
Making sense of COVID policies in schools
STUDENTS ARE CONTRACTING COVID-19, occasionally in school – but medical experts say school is the safest place for kids. Parents are urged to vaccinate their children against COVID, though children […]
Posted inOpinion
Make Mass. a leader in reproductive freedom
FORTY-NINE YEARS ago today, the United States Supreme Court issued its historic ruling in the case of Roe v. Wade, confirming that access to abortion is a right guaranteed by […]
Posted inHealth Care
Nearly half of COVID hospitalizations called ‘incidental’
CLOSE TO HALF of the patients being hospitalized in Massachusetts for COVID-19 are incidental cases, meaning they tested positive for the virus while being treated primarily for other issues. The […]
Posted inUncategorized
Mass General Brigham backs real estate transfer fee
MASS GENERAL BRIGHAM, the state’s largest private employer, on Wednesday urged passage of legislation that would allow Massachusetts communities to assess fees on higher-end real estate transactions to support the […]
Posted inEducation, Health Care
Baker expands test-and-stay to early childhood centers
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER announced Wednesday that he is expanding the state’s test-and-stay program to early childhood centers, so that children exposed to COVID at daycare do not have to quarantine. The announcement […]
Posted inOpinion
Making room for everyone in the audience
A MUTUAL COLLEAGUE of ours recently recounted for us a personal story of how a situation she would have normally loved – a classical music concert with some of her […]
Posted inEducation
House releases $55m bill for COVID testing, school masks
THE HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS Committee on Tuesday released a bill that would allocate another $55 million to expanding COVID testing sites, buying masks for schools, and doing vaccine outreach, even as Gov. […]
Posted inNews Analysis
Polls indicate mental health of children remains a concern
PARENTS IN MASSACHUSETTS have a front row seat to the burgeoning mental health crisis among children across the state. A series of polls from The MassINC Polling Group finds parents […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker, Democratic legislators clash on virus response
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER often says he and his political opponents will “agree to disagree.” That could have been the mantra of Tuesday’s oversight hearing of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on […]
Posted inHealth Care
Baker prioritizes rapid tests, buys 26m more
MASSACHUSETTS WILL GET 26 million rapid antigen tests over the next three months, which it will distribute primarily to K-12 schools and childcare facilities, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Tuesday. “Rapid […]
Posted inHealth Care
News not as bleak as it appears on COVID front
THE NEWS seems particularly bleak on the COVID front, with case counts rising rapidly and hospitalizations hitting levels not seen since last winter’s surge. But amid the rising alarm over the […]
Posted inUncategorized
Mariano eyes vaccine mandate for public access to State House
HOUSE SPEAKER Ron Mariano said on Monday that lawmakers will likely require members of the public to show proof of vaccination if and when the State House reopens. Mariano made […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mass. offers QR code to prove COVID vaccine status
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION on Monday released a new technology that state residents can use voluntarily to provide digital proof of their COVID-19 vaccination status. A portal on a state-run website […]
Posted inOpinion
Information chaos in public health
SCROLLING THROUGH Facebook today, I came across a new website that helps people find and order in-stock home COVID tests on line. It’s updated to show current availability from a […]
Posted inEducation
School struggles getting worse amid virus surge
AMID THE SURGE of COVID-19 cases, Cambridge Public Schools closed Monday and Tuesday to test 3,500 students. Superintendent Victoria Greer wrote to families Tuesday that 157 of 362 pools tested […]
Posted inBy The Numbers, Health Care, News Analysis
Poll shows sharp divide in attitudes depending on vaccination status
WITH COVID CASES surging in Massachusetts and tests hard to come by, deciding what feels safe to do can be a moving target. But for one group at least, the […]
Posted inEducation
Most, but not all, schools reopen Monday
A NUMBER OF SCHOOL DISTRICTS didn’t open on Monday because of concerns about COVID, but Gov. Charlie Baker said none of them will be exempted from in-person learning requirements. “The […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Essex prosecutors will investigate claims of improper masking at Middleton jail
A PUBLIC DEFENDER in Essex County is asking that his client be released from the Middleton jail because correction officers are not properly masking. Andrew daMota, an attorney with the Committee […]
Posted inHealth Care, State House News Service
Mass. closing in on 1m total cases of COVID-19
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ANOTHER 12,983 people in Massachusetts were newly confirmed to have COVID-19 over the Christmas holiday weekend, the Department of Public Health reported Monday. With a total […]