BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts has surged past 1,000 deaths as the state struggles to contain the coronavirus pandemic, officials said Wednesday.
The state Department of Public Health reported Wednesday that 1,108 people have died - including 151 who died in the past 24 hours - making it the deadliest day for the state since the start of the outbreak.
Overall, nearly 30,000 cases have been confirmed, making Massachusetts a hotspot in the Northeast. About 530 of the deaths occurred in long-term care facilities.
“We are in the surge,” Gov. Charlie Baker said at a morning press conference Wednesday.
The state’s first COVID-19 death was reported on March 20. More than 132,000 people in Massachusetts have been tested for the virus.
Baker said behind each statistic is a cherished life.
“What I really think about mostly are the stories and the people who are behind the stories,” Baker said, adding that the deaths are made all the more painful because families are denied the chance to engage in critical rituals.
“What I’m really thinking about is all those people who aren’t going to have a chance to say goodbye,” he said.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and the infirm, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.
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VIRUS DATA
Massachusetts is beginning to release more information about the scope of the outbreak, Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders said Wednesday.
The state will make public the number of cases by city and town unless there are fewer than five cases in communities with populations of less than 50,000 to help protect the privacy of individuals.
Health officials have also begun reporting cases by race and ethnicity, although Sudders said at a press conference that those statistics are incomplete.
The state is also reporting daily hospital bed capacity - including the number of available beds - and the number of workers and residents in long-term care facilities who have tested positive.
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MORE PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT
Massachusetts is getting about a million pieces of personal protective equipment from the federal government.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency notified the state Wednesday morning about the shipment, which Gov. Charlie Baker said will include about 650,000 masks and 260 Tyvek suits.
The state is also working to inspect and count another portion of equipment arranged by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft that arrived late Tuesday night, he said.
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RED SOX FOOD FUND
The Boston Red Sox charitable foundation has established a fund to help ensure no one goes hungry during the pandemic
The team on Wednesday announced the creation of the Red Sox Foundation Emergency Hardship Fund to help people experiencing food insecurity in New England and near the team’s spring training home in southwest Florida.
The foundation found food insecurity to be the most pervasive need in the team’s home communities, foundation Executive Director Bekah Salwasser said in an emailed statement.
The fund was started with $300,000 from the foundation, with additional support from players and management.
Applicants who demonstrate financial hardship will be eligible for a $250 grocery gift card.
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FEDERAL MEDICAL CENTER
Lawyers filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking the release of sick and elderly prisoners held at a federal detention center in Massachusetts.
The lawsuit calls the Federal Medical Center in Devens a “powder keg of potential infection and death from COVID-19.”
FMC Devens includes a medical center for inmates who need long-term medical or mental health treatment and an adjacent minimum security facility for prisoners serving short sentences or those nearing their release date.
The lawsuit says prisoners are at “uniquely high risk of infection, serious illness, and death” due to their age and medical conditions.
There were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at the facility as of Wednesday.
The federal Bureau of Prisons declined comment.
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NEW WEBSITE
A new website designed to help health care workers and first responders has been launched by Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey.
The website - FrontlineMA.org - will serve as a central location for frontline workers to find information about personal protective equipment, prioritized testing, safe housing, meals, self-care and emergency child care, Healey said.
Members of the public can also use the site to offer messages of support, buy meals for workers, provide a safe place for workers to stay between shifts, and donate personal protective equipment.
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SHAKESPEARE SEASON CANCELED
The coronavirus pandemic has forced the cancellation of Shakespeare & Company’s 2020 summer season scheduled to start next month.
The Lenox-based organization hopes to move many of the productions scheduled for this summer to 2021, including a production of “King Lear” featuring Christopher Lloyd.
“Just as Shakespeare endured two plagues in one decade to produce some of his most brilliant work, we will get to the other side of this,” artistic director Allyn Burrows wrote in a statement on the organization’s website Tuesday.
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Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this story.
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