Gov. Baker provides a COVID-19 update from Wheel Works Bicycle Store and announces the “My Local MA” campaign, urging residents to shop at local stores while practicing social distancing during the sales tax free weekend.
Another 349 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Massachusetts, along with 12 deaths, health officials said Tuesday.
The state's coronavirus tests are coming back positive, on average, 1.1% of the time, holding steady from Monday according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's daily COVID-19 report.
The numbers in the report were also significantly lower than in Monday's report, which was inflated because it included all tests conducted over the weekend after a planned data outage to upgrade the state's system.
There have now been 8,729 confirmed deaths and 116,770 cases, according to the DPH. The total number of coronavirus deaths in the daily COVID-19 report, however, is listed as 8,961, which would indicate there are 232 more deaths that are considered probable at this time.
Tens of thousands of those cases are likely linked to a conference held by a local pharmaceutical company, Biogen, at a Boston hotel, researchers said Tuesday, citing a forthcoming paper.
Despite the progress that Massachusetts has made containing the virus since the surge in spring, Gov. Charlie Baker said Tuesday that he has no immediate plan to move the state's reopening process forward.
"We want to focus our efforts and time on (schools reopening) and don't anticipate doing anything in regards to the current state of play on the guidance and advisories with respect to other businesses," he said.
