Boston had 643 new Covid-19 cases, highest one-day total since May

In a press conference called to discuss Covid-19, but which he spent a fair amount of time addressing yesterday's failed coup in Washington - including calling for the immediate invocation of the 25th Amendment - Mayor Walsh said "numbers continue to grow in the wrong direction" for the virus in Boston.

In November, Boston was seeing under 200 new Covid-19 cases a day.

Walsh reiterated that, in another three weeks, city officials will look at metrics for cases and hospitalizations: If the numbers are going down, the city will look at easing some of the restrictions now in place; but if they keep going up, the city will have to consider even more.

With most people still unvaccinated, Walsh said, people need to keep doing the same things he's been urging them to do for months now, no matter how tired they are of hearing him say it: Wash hand, social distance, wear a mask and stay away from large groups. And get tested - every week if possible - he said.

Walsh said Boston first responders will begin getting shots next week. He said he will get vaccinated at some point as well, but that he will not jump the line to do so. "I'm not gonna take a vaccination away from somebody who's entitled to it before me."

He added that should hospitals reach a crisis and the city needs to re-open the field hospital at the South Boston convention center, that could probably be done in two or three days, because much of the equipment from its operation in the spring remains in place.

For much of his press conference, held inside Faneuil Hall, Walsh discussed yesterday's events in Washington.

"It certainly was a dark day for our democracy," he said.

Walsh said there were no threats from white-supremacist putschists in Boston yesterday, but that BPD is monitoring situation "very closely" just in case. The president "should be removed from office" for what he did yesterday and he urged Mike Pence and the rest of the cabinet to invoke the 25h Amendment.

Walsh said he was particularly offended by the invasion of the people's building during an exercises in democracy in general and the sight of some goon taking down an American flag and replacing it with a Trump flag in particular: "The Trump flag doesn't mean anything in this country. The American flag means everything."

The mayor said he agrees that things would have unfolded very differently if people involved were Black or Muslim instead of white supremacists. America is at a crossroads and we have to address its problems, he said. "We must be better than this," he said.

Walsh said he is not ready to condemn Capitol Police yet, because it's obvious police were overrun, but the question is why. What was really scary was the vice president, congressional leaders were all in same place, and the building was overrun so easily, so an investigation needed, he said.