2 Years Ago Today, Massachusetts Declared State Of Emergency As COVID Pandemic Began
BOSTON (CBS) – Two years ago Thursday life changed in a big way for the people of Massachusetts when Gov. Charlie Baker declared a State of Emergency due to growing concerns about the spread of COVID-19.
Baker's State of Emergency lasted for more than a year before expiring on June 15, 2021.
Using his emergency powers, Baker went on to place restrictions on businesses in the state and instituted a mask mandate to try and stop the spread of the virus. Those restrictions and the mask mandate ended on May 29, 2021.
As Baker stood in the State House to make the announcement on March 10, 2020, there were 51 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the state's total of positive tests to 92.
"There's no question the efforts to mitigate the spread of this virus will be disruptive. We expect this disruption to continue for the foreseeable future and understand it will cause inconvenience for many," Baker said in March 2020. "But our goal needs to be to significantly increase efforts to mitigate the spread of this disease now."
As of Thursday, Massachusetts has seen a total of 1,546,685 cases of COVID. The state has reported 22,944 deaths during the pandemic.