With subzero temperatures settling on Boston on Friday, Mayor Marty Walsh announced the city is opening its warming centers for the start of the weekend.
The centers were open Friday and will be open again from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. Everyone will be screened for COVID-19 at the door and, once inside, will have to wear a mask and maintain social distance, among other measures.
"We want to ensure that every Boston resident stays warm and safe with the bitter cold weather this weekend," Walsh said in a statement.
He urged residents to check in on loved ones who may need help during the cold snap, while taking precautions themselves, and to call 911 if they see anyone who appears homeless or vulnerable struggling outside.
The wind is expected to diminish Saturday as high temperatures gain a few degrees from where they were Friday, rising into the teens and 20s, with wind chills -5 to 5 degrees, according to the NBC10 Boston forecast.
“This level of cold can be deadly,” Massachusetts General Hospital emergency Dr. Ali Raja.
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Your body temperature can drop rapidly when it's brutally cold outside, and that can quickly turn into a medical emergency.
“When it gets this cold, it’s surprising how fast hypothermia can actually kick in. Even a few minutes outside without unexposed skin and without enough warm clothing can result in a drop in in your core body temperature,” he said.
The city is deploying mobile outreach vans and its police street outreach unit and has opened its emergency shelters for adults and winter overflow sites.
It gave this list of warming centers:
• Allston/Brighton: BCYF Jackson-Mann Community Center, 500 Cambridge St., Allston
• Charlestown: BCYF Charlestown Community Center, 255 Medford St., Charlestown
• Dorchester: BCYF Holland Community Center, 85 Olney St., Dorchester
• East Boston: BCYF Paris Street Community Center, 112 Paris St., East Boston
• Hyde Park: BCYF Hyde Park Community Center, 1179 River St., Hyde Park
• Jamaica Plain: BCYF Curtis Hall Community Center, 20 South St., Jamaica Plain
• Mattapan: BCYF Mildred Avenue Community Center, 5 Mildred Ave., Mattapan
• North End: BCYF Nazzaro Community Center, 30 N. Bennet St., Boston
• Roslindale: BCYF Menino Community Center, 125 Brookway Rd., Roslindale
• Roxbury: BCYF Tobin Community Center,1481 Tremont St., Boston
• South Boston: BCYF Condon Community Center, 200 D St., S. Boston
• South End: BCYF Blackstone Community Center, 50 West Brookline Street, Boston
• West Roxbury: BCYF Roche Community Center,1716 Centre St., West Roxbury
