Massachusetts is the fifth U.S. state to report more than 1,000 coronavirus deaths. The number of patients hospitalized on April 15 with suspected or confirmed cases of COVID-19 rose by 3,648, with 968 patients being admitted to intensive-care units.
The state now has at least 29,918 confirmed cases. However, an MIT-associated study claims that there could actually be more than 100,000 coronavirus cases, suggesting that many more people potentially have the disease than have been confirmed.
“We estimate that up to 115,000 people are infected and shedding the SARS-CoV-2 virus,” according to the report.
Meanwhile, more than two dozen Massachusetts companies are working on the development of vaccines, treatments or devices for COVID-19. Boston Biz Journal has published a slide presentation related to this story.
Massachusetts town-by-town coronavirus data can be found here.
Massachusets is the First State to Undertake COVID-19 Contact Tracing Program
The New York Times reports that Massachusetts is the first in the nation to launch a coronavirus contact tracing program. The effort is intended to get unknowingly infected residents into quarantine to avoid infecting others.
More than $40 million is being allocated to hiring 1,000 contract tracers to call Mass. residents who have been in contact with a COVID-19 patient.
Gov. Charlie Baker is betting that the program will help to identify pockets of infection as they emerge. According to the Times report:
“Contact tracing has helped Asian countries like South Korea and Singapore contain the spread of the virus, but their systems rely on digital surveillance, using patients’ digital footprints to alert potential contacts, an intrusion that many Americans would not accept.”
“It’s not cheap,” Governor Baker, told the Times. “But the way I look at it, the single biggest challenge we’re going to have is giving people confidence and comfort that we know where the virus is.”
Half Million Jobs Lost in Massachusetts, Including Thousands of Clean Energy Jobs
Banker and Tradesman financial weekly reports that as of April 11 more than 500,000, a full 12 percent of Massachusetts residents — have become unemployed. However, new unemployment claims were down 36,607 from the previous week. That is according to the latest U.S. Department of Labor data.
Among the jobs lost in the past month were more than 1,000 clean energy jobs. That is according to an analysis by the American Council on Renewable Energy and Environmental Entrepreneurs.
“The coronavirus pandemic essentially blew away a year’s worth of industry-wide gains in just a few weeks,” says the report in the Boston Business Journal.
Workers who lost their jobs include engineers, solar installers, technicians, electricians, HVAC and mechanical trade technicians, and construction workers.
Nearly half a million clean energy jobs are at risk nationwide.
Energy Network News has more details on this story.
Recreational Cannabis Sales: Judge’s Decision Favors Gov. Baker, but Former Gov. Weld Objects
A judge has ruled that Gov. Baker acted within his authority when he ordered recreational marijuana dispensaries to close amid the coronavirus pandemic. As a result, Mass. recreational sales are still shut down.
The decision was a disappointment to the state’s recreational marijuana businesses as it “could serve as an effective death sentence for dozens of marijuana companies,” writes the Boston Globe.
Many operators are laying off workers and “teetering on the brink of insolvency,” the report warns.
Gov. Baker’s reasoning for shutting recreational sales was that the move would prevent out-of-state customers who could be carrying COVID-19 from infecting Mass. residents.
His ruling notwithstanding, the judge said that he believed dispensaries could be reopened safely.
Former Governor Bill Weld has spoken out publicly against the move. In an opinion piece published Tuesday in Commonwealth magazine, Weld writes, “Only Massachusetts has imposed this economic death sentence on small and previously disadvantaged business owners."
As we reported last week, record numbers of residents are applying for medical marijuana cards as a result.
More of the Latest Massachusetts News:
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Boston Globe - Mass. marijuana commissioner to step down in May
Boston Globe - Mass. lawmakers reach deal to block nearly all evictions during coronavirus crisis
Mass. Live - Massachusetts colleges to get more than $270 million in federal aid