Three years ago the state of emergency for COVID-19 declared in Massachusetts

Posted: Mar 10, 2023 / 11:53 AM EST

Updated: Mar 15, 2023 / 12:32 PM EDT

BOSTON (WWLP) – Friday marks three years since the state of emergency for COVID-19 was declared in Massachusetts.

On March 10, 2020, Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency and imposed broad restrictions on travel for many state employees as the state moved into a new phase of its response to the global viral outbreak.

Baker had been in Utah on vacation but opted to return to Massachusetts a couple of days early as the situation worsened and the number of coronavirus cases doubled in one day. In the three years since there have been over 2 million confirmed cases of covid in the state and 22,000 confirmed deaths.

First reported cases of COVID-19 in each county:

January 30, 2020 – Suffolk
February 27, 2020 – Norfolk Middlesex
March 6, 2020 – Berkshire, Worcester, Essex
March 13, 2020 – Barnstable, Bristol, Hampden, Hampshire, Franklin, Plymouth
March 20, 2020 – Dukes and Nantucket

22News spoke with an Infectious Disease specialist at Baystate Health about how we look at the virus today. Dr. Armando Paez said COVID will be endemic and will be circulating with some surges in the foreseeable future. He adds that COVID has shaped our lives especially when it comes to taking preventative measures to stop transmission of the disease.

“It has affected different aspects of our lives, from education to mental health,” said Dr. Paez. “So that’s why COVID-19 really something that we will not forget in our lives as long as we live.”

COVID-19 cases this week

The latest COVID-19 data released Thursday according to the CDC, Berkshire and Franklin counties in western Massachusetts are at medium risk, meaning if you have household or social contact with someone at high risk for getting very sick, consider self-testing to detect infection before contact, and consider wearing a high-quality mask when indoors with them.

State public health officials reported 87 new confirmed deaths and 3,356 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts this week.

Total COVID-19 Cases by Age Group:

• 0-4 years: 413
• 5-9 years: 166
• 10-14 years: 133
• 15-19 years: 181
• 20-29 years: 621
• 30-39 years: 683
• 40-49 years: 587
• 50-59 years: 710
• 60-69 years: 821
• 70-79 years: 695
• 80+ years: 644

Testing:

According to the Department of Public Health, 57,662 new tests were performed with an overall of 49,643,025 molecular tests administered.

The 7-day average of percent positivity is 4.85%

Hospitalizations:

On March 7th, there were 152 patients hospitalized primarily for COVID-19 related illness.

There were 458 total patients hospitalized with COVID-19 with 53 patients in intensive care units, 8 patients intubated, 295 (64%) patients that were reportedly fully vaccinated.