Gov. Charlie Baker to Detail Reopening Plan Today
BOSTON — Gov. Charlie Baker is expected to detail his four-phase plan to begin reopening the state today.
The first phase of the plan will allow places of worship, as well as the construction and manufacturing industries, to resume operations with safety measures in place, according to an e-mail sent to local officials obtained by various media outlets.
While specifics of the reopening plan were still being finalized by the COVID-19 Reopening Advisory Board over the weekend, Baker announced last week that he will take a four-phase approach to reopening the Massachusetts economy during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal is to methodically allow certain businesses, services, and activities to resume, while protecting public health and limiting a resurgence of new COVID-19 cases.
• Phase 1 will be ‘start’: limited industries resume operations with severe restrictions.
• Phase 2 will be ‘cautious’: additional industries resume operations with restrictions and capacity limits.
• Phase 3 will be ‘vigilant’: additional industries resume operations with guidance.
• Phase 4 will be the ‘new normal’: development of a vaccine and/or therapy enables careful resumption of full activity.
Businesses and activities that provided ‘COVID-19 essential services,’ per Gov. Charlie Baker’s March 23 order, will continue to operate. Certain businesses and activities with a lower risk of COVID-19 transmission will open in earlier phases. Decisions and timing will be influenced by public-health metrics for when the first phase of reopening begins, as well as when it is safe to move into concurrent phases. If public health metrics worsen, the state may need to return to an earlier phase.
