BOSTON -- Four months since Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency to deal with the coronavirus pandemic, the state's cumulative case count climbed to 105,290 and the virus's death toll here increased to at least 8,081 as of Friday.
When Boston starts Phase 3 of the state's reopening plan Monday, Massachusetts will take another step towards finding a safe and sustainable balance between the mitigation efforts that have shown to help slow the spread of the highly contagious virus and the business and social activity that drives the state's economy.
In addition to the Boston gyms, movie theaters and museums that will be cleared to open as soon as Monday, next week will also see the return of resort casino gaming in Springfield and Everett, and the limited reopening of Massachusetts courts.
On Beacon Hill, most of the attention in recent days has been on the Senate's stymied attempts to debate a policing reform bill. But overshadowed by some of the parliamentary drama was a bill the Senate passed Friday to allow restaurants to sell to-go cocktails as a way to boost sales for struggling eateries.
Baker did not hold a press conference or any other public event on Friday and his once-daily updates have dwindled to a few a week.
Friday DPH Update: The seven-day average of the COVID-19 positive test rate dropped to its lowest point yet in the daily report from the Department of Public Health, falling to 1.6 percent. The rate had been hovering at or just below 2 percent for the last three weeks.
In Friday's report, DPH added 152 confirmed cases of COVID-19 to raise the state's cumulative case count to 105,290 and announced the recent COVID-19 deaths of 28 people, bringing the virus's death toll here to at least 8,081. Counting probable COVID-19 deaths, 8,296 people have lost their lives.
The increase in the three-day average number of COVID-19 patients in a Massachusetts hospital continued in Friday's report. As of July 9, the average was 643 patients, up from 639 on July 8, 629 on July 7 and 620 as of July 6, according to DPH. The actual number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized dropped by three patients from Thursday to Friday, and there were 632 people hospitalized with the virus as of midday Friday.
MHA: Hospital Revenue Challenges Persist: New state data on the financial status of hospitals and health systems in Massachusetts underscore a need "for substantial and ongoing financial support so our hospitals can weather this storm and continue to treat every patient in need of care," according to the Massachusetts Health and Hospital Association.
The Center for Health Information and Analysis on Thursday published a report showing that the percentage of hospitals reporting positive margins had dropped from December to March, and 17 out of 21 hospital health systems reported negative total margins for the quarter ending March 31.
The MHA, in a statement, said the report "shows the early, yet swift impact the COVID-19 emergency had on hospital finances" and that "severe" revenue challenges remain as hospitals restore services.
"The analysis covers the first two weeks of canceled elective procedures at Massachusetts hospitals, which was only the beginning of a financial free-fall that has grown increasingly dire in the months since," the statement said.