BOSTON — Gov. Charlie Baker said he’s studying data and talking to health care professionals as he weighs whether to extend the state of emergency beyond May 4 to help stem the spread of the coronavirus.
“Obviously we know it’s something on people’s minds. It’s on ours too,” Baker said at a press conference Thursday. “We’re going to do what we can to give people guidance so they have enough time to plan.”
Whether to reopen schools is also part of part of that discussion, according to Baker, who said a decision about schools will be made “sometime soon.” The state of emergency also shuttered nonessential businesses.
The state has seen an increase in the number of people hospitalized in recent days, Baker said, adding that about half of hospital beds remain empty. He said the state should see a peak in cases later this month.
Baker also urged residents to respond if they receive a call from the state’s contact tracing program advising them they may have come in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.
Three candidates hoping to get their names on the Massachusetts ballot this fall are asking the state’s highest court to ease signature gathering requirements.
The declaration of a state of emergency by Gov. Charlie Baker combined with a statewide stay at home public health advisory makes it virtually impossible to go door-to-door to collect the needed signatures, the candidates argued. The Supreme Judicial Court held a hearing by phone Thursday.
The court could decide to reduce the number of needed signatures, allow electronic signatures, extend the deadline or determine any candidate who made a good faith effort to collect signatures be allowed on the ballot.
The state Senate approved a bill Thursday that would lower the signature threshold for those running for U.S. Senate from 10,000 signatures to 5,000 signatures and for U.S. House candidates from 2,000 signatures to 1,000 signatures. The House has yet to act.
Biogen Inc., the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Partners HealthCare are teaming up to create a repository of biological samples to help research into treatments and vaccines for the coronavirus, officials announced Thursday.
Biogen, the Cambridge, Massachusetts, biotech company linked to an early cluster of COVID-19 cases stemming from a February meeting at a Boston hotel, is asking employees who have recovered to volunteer for the project by supplying blood samples.
The project will help scientists study a large collection of medical data that will offer insights into why some people are severely affected by the disease and others are asymptomatic.
Partners HealthCare, the parent company of Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, is coordinating the outreach and sample collection effort.
Data from blood samples will be generated at the Broad Institute, where it will be kept anonymous.
Another 103,000 Massachusetts residents have filed first-time unemployment claims in the week ending April 11, the U.S. Department of Labor announced Thursday.
That brings total unemployment claims in the state to 578,000 in the past month during the coronavirus pandemic.
Police officers lined the streets in Boston to honor a colleague who died this week from complications of COVID-19. Officers wearing masks saluted as Boston Police officer Jose Fontanez’s body was escorted from Boston Medical Center to the funeral home. Fontanez, a 29-year veteran of the police force, died Tuesday.
A Massachusetts food pantry is cranking up its efforts to make sure everyone in need is fed during the coronavirus pandemic.
Neighbors in Need, based in Lawrence, said the demand for assistance with food has been exploding as more people lose their jobs.
The organization has experienced a significant increase in the number of people unable to leave their homes, and who now need home delivery. To meet the need, volunteers spent Thursday in the warehouse packing bags and making deliveries.
The coronavirus pandemic has pushed two Massachusetts Catholic schools already struggling financially over the edge.
The Diocese of Fall River announced Wednesday that Coyle and Cassidy Middle School and High School in Taunton and St. Margaret Primary School in Bourne will both close permanently on June 30.
Students at both schools have been engaged in distance learning since early March.
The diocese is working with families to enroll students to other nearby Catholic schools