BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts reported 18 newly confirmed deaths linked to COVID-19 on Wednesday - bringing the total number of confirmed and probable deaths to 8,769 since the start of the pandemic.
The state also reported Tuesday 229 newly confirmed cases of the disease caused by the coronavirus.
That brings the total number of confirmed and probable cases to 122,000 in Massachusetts since the start of the pandemic.
There were 422 people reported hospitalized Monday because of COVID-19, while 64 were in intensive care units.
The number of confirmed and probable COVID-19 related deaths at long-term care homes rose to 5,602 or nearly 64% of all confirmed and probable deaths in Massachusetts attributed to the disease.
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BOSTON SCHOOLS
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is pressing area colleges to finish up proposals about how they plan to reopen safely amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
Walsh said he’s concerned about students coming to Boston from states with high rates of coronavirus infections after Boston has worked to reduce the virus. Walsh said the students are supposed to quarantine for 14 days and get tested within 72 hours to help avoid surges of the virus.
“We hope they’re doing this and not bringing the virus to the city,” Walsh said during a press conference Tuesday.
Walsh’s comments come as the mayors of Somerville and Medford have also pressed Tufts University on its reopening plan.
Walsh said that the city is also preparing public schools to open in the fall. Schools will be making improvements to ventilation and sanitation systems and will take steps to encourage physical distancing, Walsh said.
Schools will be inspected before reopening to make sure they are following the guidelines, he added.
“We will not send students, teachers or staff into a school building that is not safe,” he said.
Even with the extra steps, remote learning will be part of the education model for the schools, Walsh said.
One so-called “hopscotch” model would have about half of students in classrooms on some days while using remote learning on other days to help limit the total number of students in schools on any given day.
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