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Gyms, museums, other facilities in Boston get OK to re-open next week
By adamg on Tue, 01/26/2021 - 10:29am
Mayor Walsh said that with Boston Covid-19 numbers coming down - although still high - the city is ending restrictions on a variety of public facilities and activities.
On Feb. 1, gyms and other indoor athletic facilities, museums, movie theaters, the Aquarium and sightseeing tours, will be able to re-open, subject to state capacity and gathering limits - no more than 10 people indoors and 25 outdoors. Walsh ordered them shut in December as Covid-19 numbers escalated rapidly.
Walsh said the latest citywide test positivity rate is 7.2%, down from 7.5% the week before. He said positivity numbers are down in every neighborhood, although he acknowledged the numbers are still higher than he'd like to see.
Marty Martinez, chief of health and human services, added that the number of patients hospitalized with Covid-19 in Boston has also been coming down.
Both, however, said the virus is still out there and people need to keep doing all the usual stuff: Wear masks, socially distance, avoid crowds and wash their hands.
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Comments
Magoo sez.
Magoo is eggscited to get Magoo’s pump it up on. Magoo has put on the Covid-50 poundage due to intense Netflix binging. Magoo.
Magoo needs to shut up
Magoo needs to shut up
Magoo sez
Magoo never did anything to yoo. Why be a meany at Magoo? Magoo.
Noise
It's up to Adam, but you might want to think about the fact that these days, people are getting information from this site. Your nonsense adds noise, not signal. Maybe you could at least restrict it to fluff posts and leave it out on posts about things like covid.
Right
The comment section marred my ability to take the news seriously. The video from the mayor of Boston lost all gravitas once someone posted something silly below it.
Hail Magoo.
It's not hard, Will
People are also exchanging information in the comments. Not you, but people.
Capacity limits for museums
I doubt that the MFA, Gardner, Museum of Science, or Aquarium are going to be limited to 10 people total. There would not be much point in reopening them if they were that limited.
Right?
We've been at this for 10 months, and the response is just "No more than 10 people indoors." No mention at all of the words "per square foot", so the MFA and some South End gallery are given the same guidelines.
Is this a good time to point out that this is a guy whom Joe Biden deemed fit to serve in his Cabinet? I would like to shake the hand of the first person who ever said that DC is "Hollywood for ugly people."
At least now I can see the MFA. Can you believe that I haven't been in the 18 years that I've lived here? I'd like to unscrew that. Also, on art, the Hatched display is pretty cool.
"unless sector-specific
"unless sector-specific guidance allows for other capacities."
https://twitter.com/marty_walsh/status/1354085801014026241
Yes, that says 25% capacity for museums and aquarium
not a limit of 10 people.
I am happy to see that we have made enough progress to allow this.
Does 25% include the penguins
Does 25% include the penguins and other aquatic life? Where will the other 75% be staying in the meantime?
Gathering
Yeah - gathering does not mean the whole building, it means in gathering spaces, such as an auditorium or conference room.
I agree - glad to see progress.
MFA Reopening Info
The MFA will reopen next Wednesday, Feb 3, with tickets going on sale to the general public this coming Friday at 10 am.
Bott MFA and ICA subject to 25% occupancy
Of course Museums are not subject to 10 people. Both ICA and MFA instituted ticketed reservations, even if museum is free for members.
Except for the splashy new exhibits, you would often be one of handful of people in each gallery. So much more socially distanced than average grocery store
And mask compliance and enforcement has been outstanding. Cannot wait until they reopen.
7.2% is insanely bad!
What are we even doing?
It no longer makes political sense
To keep things closed. It's really that simple!
These decision are not being made using available scientific data. Polling data, maybe.
It's because the students are
It's because the students are gone. One BU, et al has students being tested three times a week, the numbers will go way down. Classes resumed this week.
For what it's worth, NU has
For what it's worth, NU has been contributing over 3,000 tests per day since 1/11, and been over 2,000 per day since 1/4. Other than right around Christmas and New Years Day, there hasn't been many days before 1,000 tests since the start of testing.
If we are counting on the large schools like BU and NU to artificially drive the community positivity rate down, we are failing to sufficiently test the general public.
Edited to finish my 2nd sentence (after the comma) because apparently I posted it with the rest of that thought still in my head.
This is stupid
Who got to Baker?
Didn’t realize
Baker was the Mayor of Boston.
Learn something new every day I guess.
It isn’t just Baker
Pretty clear that US policy is, essentially, be as open as possible without completely collapsing the hospitals. Empty bed=room to open. Hopefully we don’t get caught by surprise by a new variant and miscalculate, but basically deaths and cases are meaningless it is run to max hospital capacity.
25% capacity for gyms & indoor athletic/recreational facilities
That's a significant decline from the 40% limit that had been in place. I think it will be challenging for some facilities to meet demand within their indoor spaces.
Follow the Money
Just so everyone is clear, the case load in Boston now is still extremely high. Charlie is literally killing our most vulnerable residents in order to "save" the "economy." It is reckless, it is heedless, and it is clueless.
Did you know that the city of Boston has reported three times as many COVID-19 deaths as China? CHINA HAS 1.4 BILLION PEOPLE! You can accuse them of under-reporting, but dead bodies are hard to hide.
We have lost as many Americans to COVID in one year than we lost during the entirety of the Second World War.
Our leaders are literally killing us by the tens of thousands, sacrificed on the altar of Mammon.