BOSTON -- In the latest measurement of the COVID-19 pandemic's continued economic toll, state labor officials on Friday announced that the unemployment rate for July was 16.1 percent.
The jobless rate is more than five times the level where it stood a year earlier -- 2.9 percent -- but down 1.6 percentage points from the revised June rate of 17.7 percent. As the gradual economic reopening progressed last month, Massachusetts added 72,100 jobs in July, according to the Executive Office of Labor and Economic Development. The office pointed to a U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimate showing Massachusetts lost 452,600 jobs from July 2019 to July 2020.
"Massachusetts continues to lead the rest of the country in the percentage of people out of work. It's not a statistic to be proud of," Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance spokesman Paul Craney said Friday, calling for Beacon Hill leaders to turn their focus to the economy.
The group Early Education for All also has an ask of Gov. Charlie Baker -- that he extend a recently announced mobile testing program, intended to respond to K-12 schools with signs of possible COVID-10 clusters. The group wants the rapid response program to also deploy to early education and care sites and out-of-school time programs that may need it.
State public health officials reported 431 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, and 13 new deaths linked to the coronavirus. Some reporting hiccups are expected this weekend as the Department of Public Health makes a transition in its data system. Lower testing numbers are possible on Saturday, and there will be no Sunday report. Monday's report will reflect weekend lab activity, Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders has said.
COVID-19 Hospitalizations Hit New Low
Public health officials reported more new coronavirus cases on Friday than they have on any day since early June, adding 431 newly-confirmed cases of COVID-19 to the state's total.
Testing also increased, with the 431 new cases coming from 26,758 tests conducted during the reporting period. That works out to a positive test rate of 1.61 percent for the single day, while the Department of Public Health said Friday the state's seven-day average of the positive test rate had hit a new low of 1.2 percent.
The number of people hospitalized in Massachusetts with COVID-19 dropped by 49 to 322 as of midday Friday, DPH said. That drove the three-day average of hospitalized COVID-19 patients down to its own all-time low of 353.
Since Feb. 1, there have been 115,741 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Massachusetts. The virus has claimed the lives of at least 8,670 lives, or 8,901 when counting people who died with probable cases of COVID-19.
On Friday night, the pipeline through which labs report COVID-19 test results to DPH will be shut down to facilitate the transfer of a data system from a DPH server to the Amazon Web Services cloud. As a result, the daily update DPH publishes Saturday "may suggest lower testing numbers," Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders said.
DPH will not publish a daily report Sunday, but Monday's update "will include all the lab results from the weekend."
Markey Launches Postal Problems Portal
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey on Friday announced a new online portal for Bay Staters and post office staff to report individual mail problems and delivery delays arising from recent changes implemented at the United States Postal Service.
Many eyes are on the postal system as local election officials brace for a pandemic-era flood of mail-in ballots. Markey is also calling for state and local election officials to "deploy hundreds of ballot drop-off boxes throughout the state" instead of mailing them in.
Many municipalities have already set up such drop-boxes -- Secretary of State William Galvin on Thursday published a list of 193 of them.
Child Care Group Sizes Can Return to Normal
Officials with the Department of Early Education and Care released revised Minimum Requirements for Health and Safety on Friday, outlining updated expectations for child care centers that are more in line with guidance issued by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
The new guidelines, which take effect Sept. 1, return classroom group sizes to pre-pandemic limits, allow home-based child care providers greater flexibility in their maximum group size while their own children are engaged in remote learning at home, and allow limited on-site services for children with special needs to occur in child care facilities.
Before child care centers were ordered closed by the governor in March, Massachusetts had about 8,200 licensed child care programs. So far, more than 5,300 child care programs have reopened and another 1,000 are in the process of completing their health and safety plans to be approved to reopen, the state said.
"While we all must remain vigilant against the transmission of COVID-19, the updates to our requirements will ensure children and families can remain healthy and safe when relying on child care to go to work," Commissioner Samantha Aigner-Treworgy said. "We are confident in our providers' ability to continue safely meeting the needs of children and families in their communities while supporting children’s learning and development."
Boston Schools Starting Remotely
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh announced Friday that all students in the city's public schools will begin the academic year with remote learning on Sept. 21, with families and students able to opt-in to remote learning no earlier than October and November, as public health data allow.
Students with the highest needs would be able to start hybrid learning on Oct. 1, with others gradually able to begin a hybrid model by grade level over the next several weeks -- high schoolers would come last, on Nov. 16 and Nov. 19.
"Every family will have the choice about when to send their kid to school," Walsh said at an afternoon press conference. He said that as students phase in, there will still be less than half the normal number of students in each school building on any given day.
"Every day outside the classroom is a lost opportunity for many students," Walsh said, saying that, along with learning opportunities, schools provide students with essential services, mentoring and social development. Walsh said families in the city are divided about whether they want their children to learn remotely or in-person. He called Boston's approach "a responsible, phased-in plan to start the school year."
Gloucester Patrolling for Boat, Mask Violations
Citing a rise in boating accidents and reports of illegal activity including underage drinking and boating under the influence, Gloucester officials are asking the public to boat responsibility and heed updated COVID-19 waterway guidance from the state.
Boaters are subject to the restrictions on gathering sizes and face covering requirements that apply on land, and the latest version of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs boating guidance, updated Tuesday, limits the rafting-up or tying-up of recreational boats to no more than three vessels.
Gloucester officials said in a statement that city police and Massachusetts Environmental Police will deploy ATV patrols along Wingaersheek Beach this weekend, and boaters and beachgoers violating the face mask order could be subject to fines of up to $300. Violators of the boat rafting limit could face fines up to $500.
"There will be a number of agencies heavily patrolling the area this weekend and for the remainder of the summer to ensure people are socially distancing and are also being safe on the water," harbormaster TJ Ciarametaro said in a statement.
Lawmakers Want Continued School Meal Flexibility
Ninety-three state lawmakers, almost half the Legislature, wrote this week to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, asking for existing waivers to be extended so that school meal programs can continue to have the flexibility to serve children during the COVID-19 pandemic. It's an issue Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has also flagged.
The USDA extended the waivers for the summer, and the lawmakers' letter asked for another extension through the 2020-21 school year. The legislators said state education officials also submitted a waiver extension request on July 24.
"The reopening of schools will vary from community to community. Some children will continue to learn from home, some will return full-time, and many will experience some hybrid of the two models," they wrote. "This, coupled with the potential for further school closures in the future, highlights the need for School Food Authorities (SFAs) to have flexibility to react and innovate in all potential scenarios."
Reps. Christine Barber, Hannah Kane and Jay Livingstone and Sen. Sal DiDomenico led the letter.