Boston extends coronavirus suspension of gyms, movie theaters

Boston’s closure of gyms, museums and more will continue for another three weeks, Mayor Martin Walsh announced — as he said he could be “forced” into new restrictions by continued bad coronavirus numbers.

“If the numbers don’t improve, we’ll have to look at — we’ll be forced to look at — more restrictions,” Walsh told reporters in a Tuesday press conference.

Walsh in December had jumped the city back to a three-week modified version of “Phase 2, Step 2” of the state’s reopening plan. That meant that — to the ire of gym owners and others who run indoor activities and insist they haven’t been the source of infections — some businesses had to temporarily shut down. This applies to museums, movie theaters, aquariums and other indoor-gathering spaces, though dining can continue.

On Tuesday, the day before the “pause,” was scheduled to end, Walsh extended it through Jan. 27. The mayor said that at that point they’ll reevaluate, and he said “I hope and pray” things will be headed in the right direction and he’ll be able to let the suspension drop then.

When the order first went into effect, gym owners pointed to data that showed little spread from gyms. Walsh said he knows he’s going to take flak from the continued “pause,”  as he characterized it, but said, “This is an effort to reduce the overall activity happening outside of people’s homes.”

Several other municipalities made the move to suspend these industries when Boston did so in December, but at least two — Brockton and Arlington — are letting their orders expire.

As of Sunday, Boston’s hospitals only had 7% of their ICU beds open as cases continue to surge. The city’s seven-day average positive test rate hit 8.8% last week in the most recent data available — far above the 5% “threshold for concern” that the city laid out in October.

“We are getting to a point where it’s getting really dangerous,” Walsh said. Boston reported 348 cases and five deaths on Tuesday.

Case counts and total number of hospital beds available also remain worse than the city’s thresholds for concern.

Under statewide rules, gathering limits remain at 10 people for indoor settings and 25 people outdoors for both private and public spaces.

Walsh, who announced that the annual State of the City address will be held remotely Tuesday, Jan. 12, said Boston EMTs already have begun to get vaccines, and at least 1,500 more shots will be available for the city’s first responders next week.

Herald staff writer Lisa Kashinsky contributed to this report.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3ojMszr