Leaders of major Massachusetts cities and those hard hit by the coronavirus crisis are calling for a regional, phased approach to reopening — and are cautioning residents and business owners that strict public health guidelines are likely to be in effect long after shutdowns lift.
Gov. Charlie Baker’s plans remain unclear nine days before the state’s stay-at-home advisory and non-essential business ban are set to expire — leaving cities and towns waiting for guidance on what could be a rocky re-entry to daily life as they balance the need to jumpstart their economies with the obligation to keep people safe.
“I see so many of our locally owned and operated businesses and new development partners really taking it on the chin. I’m hearing from people every day who are barely making it by,” Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone said.
“I also hear from people who say they have concerns and fears about going back to life as they knew it,” he added. “If we open without a plan, without an elevated effort around testing, contact tracing and case tracking, we’re just playing Russian roulette with people’s lives.”
Local leaders keeping a close eye on cases and hospitalizations say they’re waiting for instructions on how to proceed from the governor and his 17-member committee of state, municipal and business leaders. Baker budged this week by lifting some restrictions on flower shops and golf courses, but has offered little insight into his overall plans as the clock ticks toward May 18.
“The public and elected officials deserve a very clear plan from the state of sort of phasing-in local communities,” Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse said. “When the state closed non-essential businesses, cities and towns were left to enforce and even define what was essential and what wasn’t, and I don’t think that’s adequate.”
From Brockton to Revere to Springfield, several municipal officials interviewed by the Herald this week advocated for regional reopening plans that would allow communities similarly impacted by the coronavirus to move in concert.
Chelsea City Manager Thomas Ambrosino said it will be essential to “make sure we’re doing things consistent and as a region as opposed to leaving it to the whims of individual cities and towns.”
Calls for regional proposals stem from the disparate effects the coronavirus has wrought across the state. Middlesex County had a total of 17,307 cases as of Saturday, with Suffolk County close behind at 15,119 and Essex County at 11,211. But infection rates are far lower in the western part of the state and on Cape Cod. Hampshire County had just 659 cases as of Saturday, while Franklin County had 294.
Which sectors should open up first remains unclear, complicated in no small part by issues surrounding child care services and public transportation. But other New England states’ actions could serve as clues: New Hampshire’s phased reopening Monday includes hair salons, barber shops and some retail stores, and restaurants can begin outdoor dining the following week. The first phase of Rhode Island’s plan includes elective medical procedures and in-store pickup for pre-orders at retail stores.
Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera, a reopening committee member, said the group is listening to recommendations for a phased reopening and “getting voices to tell us, ‘Don’t forget about this segment of the economy, this type of worker, a customer.’ ”
But, he added, “This has never been done before. As thorough and thoughtful as we’re going to be, we’re going to have to have iterations as we go.”
Officials here say residents, businesses and employees should expect to follow stringent health guidelines for the foreseeable future, and floated ideas such as limiting public appointments at city halls, lowering capacities at malls and retail stores, and expanding outdoor dining at restaurants.
“It’s not simply just opening up business, because we have to think of public transportation, we have to think of how people are going to get to work, we have to think of protective equipment,” Boston Mayor Martin Walsh said Friday. “There will not be a day anytime soon that we can flip a switch on and say that every business is going to be reopening their doors.”
