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Feel freer to move about the state, starting Monday
By adamg on Thu, 01/21/2021 - 3:12pm
WHDH reports Gov. Baker will lift the state's stay-at-home advisory on Monday because Covid-19 numbers are coming down. Also to be lifted: A 9:30 p.m. curfew for businesses such as restaurants.
The requirement that businesses restrict occupancy to 25% of their normal limits, however, will stay in place for another couple of weeks.
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Comments
I confess I don't totally get this
This new super contagious strain is just getting going. If we suddenly have enough vaccines to give out, I hadn't heard. And an overriding theme I've been reading is that we may be entering the darkest three months of the plague. Is any part of this wrong? Should I actually be feeling unbridled optimism? Or has Charlie just completely checked out of anything except grabbing flashy headlines?
Can people categorized as
Can people categorized as Phase 2 or 3 who want to get the vaccine get it sooner rather than wait and have it wasted on the Phase 1ers who choose not to get vaccinated? Any plan for that?
No one knows a damn thing
Yesterday the state for the first time announced that all Phase 1 categories can now get vaccinated, and provided links for appointments (whether those are any damn good remains to be seen). Questions about Phase 2 and Phase 3 are ignored. It's infuriating.
The steps we took are working so let's get rid of them
If COVID-19 numbers are coming down, it's an indication that the steps are working and we should keep them in place until the numbers are actually low again!
I'll never understand why someone who did such a good job last spring is now doing such a lousy job.
Correlation does not equal
Correlation does not equal causation.
More like the restrictions,
More like the restrictions, plus the cold a** weather, has induced everyone to go to Florida who could and now there is less spread, because there are less people.
This does NOT seem like a good idea
The only people going to restaurants after 9:30pm in the middle of winter are going for the alcohol. Allowing de facto bars to be open late again (and making them "adhere" to a 25% limit) is not going to help our situation, right when the more easily-spread variant of the virus is setting up in the Commonwealth.
Not smart at all, IMO.
Or, maybe we work second
Or, maybe we work second shift and want a treat from time to time. Or, simply eat later at night. Not everyone is on a 9-5 schedule or only seeking liquor.
not true
I work late and don't eat dinner before 9PM. Your statement is factually incorrect.
Good. These rules never made any sense anyway
The "stay at home advisory" was meaningless, and the virus doesn't spread any more readily at 10 pm than it does at 9 pm.
To be quite honest
I kind of forgot about the stay at home advisory. I did recall that they didn't want us out after 10 and that restaurants had to have their tables cleared of patrons by 9:30, but man, I did not take that advice to stay at home as I did in the spring. I even went to the zoo one day. It was fun.
I also went to the zoos
both of them, to see their holiday light displays. However, the silly curfew meant that they had to close at 9:30 pm, and that the Franklin Park zoo in particular had to cancel any reservations that people had already made for 9 pm and 9:30 pm entry. The policy never made sense, and I'm glad it's going away.
The stay-at-home advisory, to the extent people paid any attention to it, discouraged outdoor physical exercise, which we should be promoting in order to keep people healthy and fit.
Haha, so did I!
Haha, so did I!
His constituency is suburban and rural.
It seems clear his policies are designed to placate them, whereas the cities have been imposing and sticking to -- if not enforcing -- stricter restrictions.
Um
Do you actually believe that suburban and rural areas have "restaurants" that are open after 9:30 pm?
Why wouldn't they?
Arlington certainly does (or did), and it's a typical suburb.
Hilarious
You need to get around more, Ron.
He's trying to help businesses (OK bars and restaurants)
There is a thing called nuance. Things don't have to be 100% closed or 100% open. We don't have to be virus-free to start letting things be a bit more open.
A lot of people are out of work or severely underemployed in the hospitality industry. 9:30 closing was killing a lot of them, like "I'm going out of business forever". Letting them stay open later means more of those places can survive. I wear a mask everywhere and haven't eaten inside a restaurant since May. Still, if you cap capacity at 25% (which IS a big hit) and keep people distanced and wearing masks when moving about, the risks are small enough to balance the fact that you are keeping people employed.
Will this help them?
Let's see the numbers. What actual difference will this make? Use any metric you like: number of people employed, number of hours worked, dollars to businesses, whatever. But let's see the facts before asserting that this will help anyone's bottom line.
So are gyms opening again?
So are gyms opening again? Partial, limited capacity with masks? What's the deal?
Woah!
Trump's been gone for almost a whole 24 hours and suddenly the Covid numbers are "coming down" and the economy is ready to reopen! Man, that's weird!
That's not how statistics
That's not how statistics work.
Did you forget already? You
Did you forget already? You crazies claimed the virus was supposed to be gone right after the election, and that didn't happen...
Sweet.
Sweet.