Home News Baker announces curfew and strict mask order
Baker announces curfew and strict mask order
Masks required regardless of distance from other people.
Brian Dowd
Gov. Charlie Baker, shown here handing out candy at the State House Friday, has issued a curfew advisory and a mask order. - Sam Doran, State House News Service
Night time is the right time to stay home according to a new stay-at-home advisory, mask order, and gathering orders issued by Gov. Charlie Baker Monday.
Baker's slate of new orders include a stay-at-home advisory from 10 pm to 5 am with gyms, theaters, and casinos to close at 9:30 pm, and liquor stores and restaurants to stop selling alcohol at and stop table service at 9:30 pm.
Baker also said that gatherings at private homes are capped at 10 people for indoor and 25 for outdoor and that all private gatherings need to end at 9:30 pm. All the orders and the stay-at -home advisory go into effect at 12:01 am on Friday, Nov. 6.
In addition to the stay at home advisory, Baker issued a new face covering order requiring all people above the age of five years to wear a face covering or mask while in public, regardless of social distancing.
"We'd really like people to be home by 10 o'clock with the people they live with," Baker said.
Baker described the stay at home advisory as "reasonable, responsible, doable, and explainable" and the goal was to stamp out private gatherings which he blamed for the rise in COVID-19 cases. He added that a plurality of the number of cases has been from young people and that private gatherings that do not comply could face civil fines from local enforcement.
"Too many of us have become complacent in our daily lives," Baker said in part. "What we should not do is shut down our economy or close our schools."
According to state data, Baker said the number of new cases per day has grown by 300 percent and the number of inpatient hospitalizations per day has grown by 145 percent since Labor Day.
"These targeted measures are intended to reduce the number of opportunities and activities where people gather in groups and get them home," Baker said. "Intent is to cut down on the transmission that we all know is occurring with social gatherings."
Baker stressed the importance of not attending unregulated gatherings such as parties, watching sports games with neighbors, baby showers, and big birthday parties.
"Right now we're requesting you make real sacrifices to keep our schools open, our economy operating, and our health care system functioning fully and without disruption," Baker said. "We do need to adjust how we live and accept the responsibility that we all have every single day to fight covid and if we do it we can and will stop the spread.
"We can't afford to continue doing what we've been doing…When you go out wear a mask."
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