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GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. It’s Monday!
ANOTHER WEEK AT HOME — Today would have marked the end of Gov. Charlie Baker's stay at home advisory, but Massachusetts is hunkered down until at least May 18 as coronavirus cases remain high in the state. And as we enter another week in these unusual circumstances, there is some unrest. There was a dramatic conflict between ICE detainees and officials at the Bristol County jail regarding coronavirus testing on Friday night, a fight among state lawmakers could spill into another week, and protesters again plan to convene outside the State House to call for reopening the state.
Here are a few numbers to explain where things stand as we start a new week:
68,087 - The total positive coronavirus cases in Massachusetts, according to data released by the Department of Public Health on Sunday afternoon. There were 1,824 new cases yesterday. The data show the number of new cases per day going down, but it's too early to draw conclusions from the numbers.
4,004 - The number of people who have died from coronavirus in Massachusetts as of Sunday, according to DPH data. Nationwide, nearly 68,000 people have died from Covid-19. President Donald Trump said on Sunday that number could rise to 75,000 or even 100,000 deaths, up from his past prediction that 50,000 to 60,000 people would die.
14 - The number of days left under Baker's stay at home advisory, which expires May 18, though the date could change. Baker also ordered non-essential businesses closed until that date. Previously, the order and advisory were set to lift today, May 4, but Baker pushed back the deadline.
6 - The number of weeks Massachusetts has already spent under the governor's stay at home advisory, which went into effect March 24. In that time, about a quarter of the state's workforce has filed for unemployment while businesses are closed.
$500,000 - The amount of money Boston Mayor Marty Walsh donated to the Boston Resiliency Fund, the city's coronavirus fundraising vehicle, from his campaign account yesterday. Beyond offering a boost to coronavirus relief efforts, Walsh's move could be a signal that he's unconcerned about potential challengers to his reelection in 2021.
80 degrees - The high temperature in Boston yesterday afternoon. After an unseasonably cool April, the warm weather was enough to force several state parks to temporarily close to prevent crowding over the weekend.
Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com.
TODAY — Sen. Ed Markey and state Rep. Andy Vargas host a livestream. State Rep. Jon Santiago and Michael Curry of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers participate in a virtual discussion with the Alliance for Business Leadership. Rep. Joe Kennedy III hosts a virtual town hall for the South Shore, South Coast, Cape and the Islands.
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TODAY - A VIRTUAL PLAYBOOK INTERVIEW WITH HOUSE GOP LEADER KEVIN MCCARTHY: How is the minority party in the House planning to navigate the next steps in the response to the coronavirus pandemic? In an election year, is it possible to avoid the anticipated partisan battles over additional relief measures and other legislative priories? Join Playbook co-authors Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman today at 10 a.m. EDT for a virtual discussion with House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) about his efforts to try to get the House to return to Washington, what's next for economic relief legislation, and how mail-in voting could impact the 2020 election. Have questions? Submit yours by tweeting it to @POLITICOLive using #AskPOLITICO. REGISTER HERE.
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 | THE LATEST NUMBERS |
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– “More Than 4,000 Mass. Residents Have Died Of COVID-19,” by Liam Knox, WBUR: “More than 4,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Massachusetts, less than a week after the state total passed 3,000 deaths. On Sunday, the state Department of Public Health reported 158 new deaths, bringing the statewide total to 4,004. Hospitalization rates are down for the fifth day in a row, and the number of deaths reported day-over-day has been slowly decreasing over the past week.”
– “Brace for Bigger Numbers of Official Massachusetts COVID-19 Cases,” by Spencer Buell, Boston Magazine: “State public health officials now say they are working to count even unconfirmed COVID-19 cases in pandemic-tracking data, and expect to see the official numbers jump upward as a result. The new approach will see those with milder symptoms, or those who have not been tested and do not meet more stringent criteria for classifying illnesses as COVID, added to the tally in hopes of better tracking and responding to the spread of the disease.”
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| DATELINE BEACON HILL |
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– “Northeast governors banding together to buy medical supplies,” by Anna Gronewold and Katherine Landergan, POLITICO: “Seven Northeast governors are banding together to purchase medical equipment as a unit in hopes of avoiding a mad scramble for supplies if the coronavirus returns in the fall. The governors — who have said they will coordinate plans as they look to reopen their states — announced the consortium during a conference call on Sunday led by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The aim is to give states more sway in the international marketplace, Cuomo said.”
– “Why are emergency child-care programs so empty?” by Dasia Moore and Stephanie Ebbert, Boston Globe: “When the state announced it would allow some child-care centers to remain open despite COVID-19 closures, it expected to be flooded with children in need. Instead, only about 2,500 children are attending child-care programs with space for 10,000. Governor Charlie Baker said last week it’s not clear why the centers aren’t being used.”
– “Coronavirus in Massachusetts: Masks on, officials demand,” by Alexi Cohan, Sean Philip Cotter and Meghan Ottolini, Boston Herald: “Mask up — or else, Gov. Charlie Baker ordered, as Mayor Martin Walsh chewed out ‘millennials’ who have been flouting officials’ pleas to cover up to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Gov. Charlie Baker signed an executive order on Friday that demands that everyone out in public wear masks unless they can adequately social distance.”
– “Majority of all Mass. coronavirus deaths linked to care facilities,” by Wilson Ring, The Associated Press: “Long-term care facilities in Massachusetts accounted for nearly 60% of all coronavirus-related deaths in the state, one of the highest publicly reported rates in the country. Citing data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, The Boston Globe reports Rhode Island appears to have the highest rate in the nation, at about 71%, followed by Massachusetts.”
– “Mass. business leaders unveil potential path to reopening economy,” by Greg Ryan, Boston Business Journal: “A group that includes some of the state’s top business leaders published a detailed outline Friday examining how to reopen the Massachusetts economy, including bringing employees back to the workplace in waves, with white-collar workers staying home the longest. It established a goal of testing 100,000 people in Massachusetts daily, a target that would cost an estimated $60 million a month, though it did not specify where that funding would come from.”
– “Domb calls for state to step up mask production,” by Scott Merzbach, Daily Hampshire Gazette: “As mask-wearing becomes mandatory across Massachusetts when inside grocery stores and retail businesses, Amherst’s state representative is seeking to have the state arrange for the manufacture and distribution of face coverings. Democratic Rep. Mindy Domb on Friday filed a bill that directs the state Department of Public Health to ramp up the production of masks and to make sure that all residents have access to them.”
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| WHAT CITY HALL IS READING |
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– “Is the pandemic assuring Marty Walsh’s reelection?” by Adrian Walker, Boston Globe: “Even as the city copes with massive uncertainty under siege from the coronavirus, Mayor Martin J. Walsh gets to play the role of city patriarch. His daily briefings act as a signal to constituents that there is a caring presence at work. Walsh closed the schools. He instituted a curfew. He has pushed, and modeled, social distancing.”
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| FROM THE HUB |
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– “Hodgson said he confronted detainees himself,” by Sarah Betancourt, CommonWealth Magazine: “Bristol County Sheriff Thomas Hodgson said on Saturday that he was front and center in the violent altercation between corrections officials and immigration detainees over COVID-19 testing and ridiculed calls for an outside investigation by US Rep. Joe Kennedy III and others. The sheriff said the situation began when around 10 detainees being held at the jail for the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency reported they had at least two COVID-19 symptoms.”
– “Massachusetts researchers are on front lines of coronavirus antibody testing,” by Rebecca Ostriker, Boston Globe: “Scientists and doctors across Massachusetts are mobilizing to address two of the most baffling questions of this pandemic: How widely has the coronavirus spread — and if you’ve been infected, do you have lasting immunity? The answers lie in the antibody test — a pinprick of blood that captures the body’s immune response.”
– “Somerville and L.A. are offering coronavirus testing for everyone. But what does that mean, and why isn’t Boston doing it?” by Zoe Greenberg, Boston Globe: “When the mayor of Los Angeles announced this week that the city would be making COVID-19 testing available to all its residents, regardless of whether they were symptomatic, the announcement left some in Boston scratching their heads. Why could a sprawling city of roughly 4 million people offer universal testing, while Boston cannot?”
– “Boston’s Rental Relief Fund Begins Making Payments,” by Edgar B. Herwick III, WGBH News: “The first $15,000 from Boston’s $3 million rental relief fund has been distributed, just ahead of the first-of- the-month, a rental due date for many of Boston hundreds of thousands of renters. Mayor Marty Walsh announced the fund in early April. The fund was established to help lower-income Boston residents at risk of losing their rental housing due to the COVID-19 crisis. It’s managed by the city’s Office of Housing Stability along with nonprofit partners Metro Housing Boston and Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH).”
– “NAACP Postpones National Convention In Boston,” by Saraya Wintersmith, WGBH News: “The NAACP has postponed its national convention previously scheduled for Boston in July, according to Tanisha Sullivan, president of the Boston Branch. Organizers are considering a later date to host the civil rights organization’s historic event. Details will be finalized at a national board meeting later this month.”
– “In COVID era, medical interpreters in heightened demand,” by Sarah Betancourt, CommonWealth Magazine: “Medical interpreting has taken on much greater significance during the COVID-19 crisis in some parts of the state, largely because of a dramatic shift in patient mix. Many of the areas hardest-hit by the virus are minority and immigrant communities where English is not the primary language. At MGH, 9 percent of patients typically needed language help pre-COVID-19; now the percentage is 29 to 35 percent amid a n influx of patients from such hotspots as Chelsea, Everett, Revere, and East Boston.”
– “Boston Biogen conference was major early U.S. coronavirus event, CDC says,” by Alexi Cohan, Boston Herald: “The CDC’s No. 2 official is pointing to the now-infamous Biogen conference hosted at the Marriott Long Wharf in Boston as a major event that contributed to the spread of the coronavirus. She is referring to the Feb. 26-27 conference by the biotech company Biogen, where more than 100 of the 175 attendees were infected with the novel coronavirus, fueling the Massachusetts outbreak that has now spiraled into more than 66,000 cases.”
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| DAY IN COURT |
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– “Ballot question backers can gather signatures electronically,” Associated Press:“Activists trying to collect the signatures they need to get their questions on the November ballot in Massachusetts can now gather those signatures electronically. A judgment by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court this week was agreed to by the four ballot question campaigns and Democratic Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin.”
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| WARREN REPORT |
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– “Biden, Warren Slam Trump’s Weak Coronavirus Stimulus Oversight,” by Tyler Pager, Bloomberg: “Joe Biden and Elizabeth Warren lambasted what they called the Trump administration’s weak oversight of trillions of dollars in coronavirus relief spending in an op-ed published on Sunday. The Democrats laid out what they termed the administration’s failings and how Biden, as president, would strengthen supervision of the funds being spent to prop up the U.S. economy.”
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| FROM THE DELEGATION |
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– “Lawmakers urge feds to include seafood in food aid purchases,” Associated Press: “Members of the all-Democratic Massachusetts congressional delegation are pushing to include East Coast seafood in purchasing agreements funded by the federal Coronavirus Food Assistance Program. Sens. Edward Markey and Elizabeth Warren and Reps. William Keating and Seth Moulton said in a letter Friday to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue that when the U.S. Department of Agriculture begins its purchasing programs intended to assist those the pandemic has affected, the USDA should include domestic seafood.”
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| KENNEDY COMPOUND |
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– “Cambridge Police apologizes for profane tweet about Rep. Joe Kennedy III,” by Mike Kotsopoulos, Boston Globe: “The Cambridge Police Department apologized for a rogue Cambridge police officer who tweeted a profane tirade against Massachusetts congressman Joe Kennedy III on the department’s official Twitter account Sunday. In response to a WCVB-TV Boston tweet about Kennedy at 2:42 p.m., an officer with access to the department’s Twitter account sent a post that read, ‘Another liberal (expletive) jerk who just happens to be better then the clown he’s running against. Sad for us.’”
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| ABOVE THE FOLD |
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— Herald: “ACADEMIC HIT,” — Globe: “Researchers push for vital antibody test," "Coronavirus toll in Mass. crosses 4,000.” |
| FROM THE 413 |
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– “Questions of leadership, as warnings met tragic truth at Holyoke Soldiers’ Home,” by Brian MacQuarrie and Hanna Krueger, Boston Globe: “As nearly every day brings new virus-related deaths to the Soldiers’ Home, many other hard questions are being asked. Four state and federal investigations have been launched into what went wrong. And families of Soldiers’ Home veterans, health workers, and former supervisors say repeated warnings about staffing and other shortfalls have been brushed aside or ignored for years.”
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| THE LOCAL ANGLE |
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– “Cape captains worry about charter boat ban,” by Doug Fraser, Cape Cod Times: “On the cusp of the boating season, hundreds of vessels in the charter fleet got bad news from the state. Last week, Gov. Charlie Baker’s Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs sent a memo to boaters updating procedures in light of the coronavirus pandemic. That included bans on boat charters, rentals, whale-watching excursions, whitewater rafting and for-hire fishing vessels, known as charter boats, for vessels carrying six or fewer customers and party or head boats that carry more.”
– “Can Worcester’s renaissance be saved? Coronavirus shutdown leaves city wondering how to rekindle its growth post-pandemic,” by Michael Bonner, MassLive.com: “The Worcester Renaissance was constructed through years of careful planning. Attracting a diverse group of businesses, highlighting the city’s colleges and universities and even poaching Triple-A baseball from Pawtucket. There is no playbook or GPS system to navigate a city of nearly 200,000 people through a global pandemic.”
– “Worcester church fined $300 for again defying 10-person limit on gatherings amid COVID-19 pandemic,” by Craig S. Semon, Telegram & Gazette: “Kristopher D. Casey, the Adams Square Baptist Church pastor who defied Gov. Charlie Baker’s ban on gatherings of more than 10 people at two Sunday services in a row, will be fined $300 on Monday, according to City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. Forty-six attendees were counted leaving through the front door of the church at 266 Lincoln St. after a service Sunday. The previous Sunday, 56 people reportedly attended a service that Casey led at the church.”
– “Some state parks briefly closed Saturday by Mass DCR as visitors enjoy warm weather amid pandemic,” by Melissa Hanson, MassLive.com: “As people sought to enjoy the warm weather and sunshine on Saturday, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation has briefly closed some state parks for being too crowded. Through the day, DCR has been updating its Twitter page, announcing closures of at least two hours as parks reached a maximum number of visitors.”
LOVE DURING A PANDEMIC – Congrats to the Boston Globe’s Frank Phillips and PR consultant Jan Saragoni of Saragoni & Company, who tied the knot in Concord on April 4 in a socially distanced ceremony. Pic.
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY – to T.W. Arrighi, who turned 30 on Saturday.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY – to the Boston Globe’s Shira Center, Stat’s Erin Mershon, James Hannon and Natalie Akers.
Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you’re promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.
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POLITICO Magazine Justice Reform: The Decarceration Issue, presented by Verizon: Over the past decade, the long-standing challenge of criminal-justice reform has emerged under the spotlight with a new twist: Both Republicans and Democrats are on board. But if both parties want to lower the incarceration rate, why are our jail and prison populations still so high? The latest series from POLITICO Magazine works to answer this important question and take a deeper look into what it will take to make progress in the policy and politics of justice reform. READ THE FULL ISSUE.
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