Gov. Baker Eases Restrictions Amid 'Dramatic' Coronavirus Decline

MASSACHUSETTS — Many indoor businesses across the state will be able to operate at 40 percent capacity starting Monday after Gov. Charlie Baker said the 25 percent restriction in place since Christmas will be allowed to expire.

Baker said "dramatic declines" in coronavirus positive test rates and hospitalizations across the state allow for the gradual easing of restrictions.

The 10-person gathering limit for private residences indoors and 25-person limit outdoors will remain in place. The 90-minute dining and six-person limit at restaurant tables also remain.

The 25 percent capacity restriction went into effect on Dec. 26 after a surge in virus rates following Thanksgiving and leading up to Christmas. It was extended twice.

"People's work is paying off in this one," Baker said during his Thursday news conference. "We just need to keep it up for a few more months."

The easing restrictions affect offices, stores, restaurants, gyms, fitness centers, museums, libraries, personal-care businesses and churches. Employees do not count toward the 40 percent limit.

The positive test rate reached a high of 8.6 percent in early January — after falling as low as 0.8 percent in September — but was back down to 3.3 percent as of Wednesday.

Baker said hospitalizations are also down 33 percent since they peaked early last month.

"If you think back to the spring it took a really long time for our COVID hospitalization counts to go down once we went over the peak," Baker said. "We were on the slowest slope line you could imagine for a really long time. We did not have anything that looked like the drop we've seen over the last three or four weeks this time.

"There are a lot of people speculating on the (reason) for that. I think it's a number of factors. ... But there is no question that we have seen a much steeper decline in COVID hospitalization rates this time."

Baker said the Lowell COVID-19 field hospital will be "standing down" operations this week, but that the Worcester field hospital still has between 40 and 50 patients and "will stay with us for a while."

Other restrictions listed in Phase One of Step Three of the state's coronavirus reopening —which keep certain businesses, such as larger indoor recreation and entertainment venues, closed — will continue until what Baker said is "further data that shows sustained improvement."

"The data has gotten better. Because the data got better we are making some adjustments," Baker said. "These are very difficult decisions and very tough times for people involved in these businesses."

The eased capacity restrictions come two weeks after the state eliminated the 9:30 p.m. business curfew that had been in place for two months.

Asked about relaxing restrictions amid the emergence of "more contagious" variant virus strains, Baker said assumptions are the variants have been in the state undetected since December or November.

"The variants have been with us a while at a time when we've seen pretty significant drops (in cases)," he said.

Baker said while "we have a long way to go on the vaccine rollout" that having frontline health care workers vaccinated in the past month has allowed hospitals to maintain higher staffing levels to take care of the patients that contract the virus.

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(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)