reopening

Massachusetts health officials this week released guidance about how to celebrate the upcoming holidays safely amid a spike in coronavirus cases in the state. The guidelines come as Gov. Charlie Baker urges residents not to gather in groups or travel during the upcoming holidays, saying such activities could put additional strain on hospitals amid a surge of coronavirus cases. The…

Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday urged Massachusetts residents not to gather in groups during the upcoming holidays, saying such activities over Thanksgiving led to a significant spike in coronavirus cases. Baker said a surge of new coronavirus cases since Thanksgiving has put a “significant strain” on the health care system, and warned the situation could worsen after December’s holidays,...

Boston and several neighboring communities are rolling back to a modified version of Phase 2, Step 2 of Massachusetts’ reopening plan Wednesday. Other cities and towns including Arlington, Brockton, Lynn, Newton, Somerville and Winthrop are joining Boston in its rollback as coronavirus cases continue to skyrocket across the region.

After previewing the return of in-person learning ahead of Thanksgiving, Mayor Bill de Blasio returned from the holiday on Sunday to announce the scheduled return of public schools starting with elementary and special education students. The first school buildings will reopen Dec. 7, de Blasio said Sunday. City officials plan to reopen public school buildings in a phased approach, starting…

Gov. Charlie Baker announced a series of executive orders and advisories Monday in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus amid a spike in COVID-19 cases across the state. In a press conference, Baker said key health metrics were pointing to a “clear need” to take action now, adding many residents had become too “complacent” as the pandemic…

Gov. Charlie Baker announced a new stay-at-home advisory and mask order along with what amounts to a restaurant curfew on Monday in response to the recent rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Massachusetts. “The data points to a clear need to do something about these trends now. What we should not do to deal with these trends is shut…

Gov. Charlie Baker announced a stay-at-home advisory and mask order to curb the spread of coronavirus.

Massachusetts communities considered low-risk for the coronavirus were allowed to enter the next step of the state’s reopening plan on Monday, but as cases starts climb, business owners say the anxiety remains high that they might have to shut down again. At Forrest Family Fun Center in Taunton, owner Forrest Wellington was excited to reopen the roller rink for...

BREAKING UPDATE: Cuomo Orders Schools in NYC Hotspots Closed Tuesday; Mayor Plans to Move Ahead With Additional Closures Wednesday New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says all non-essential businesses, public and private schools will close Wednesday in nine zip codes in Brooklyn and Queens, if approved by the state, after reporting coronavirus cases above a 3 percent positivity rate…

Many Massachusetts towns and cities will be allowed to move to the next step of the state’s reopening plan next week, as Gov. Charlie Baker seeks to bolster the economy in lower-risk communities. Baker said Tuesday those communities would be able to move to Step 2 of Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan on Monday, increasing the number of…

Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday announced that lower-risk communities in Massachusetts will be able to move to Step 2 of Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan, effective Monday. The move comes as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to tick up in Massachusetts. But Baker, speaking at a news conference at the state house, appeared confident that further reopening is…

Forest Welling of Forrest’s Family Fun in Taunton, Massachusetts, is thrilled he can re-open his roller skating rink Monday after being shut down due the pandemic. “I’m opening up Monday night at 5 o’clock,” he said. “After over six months of being closed, it’s just very frustrating being closed for all that time, and I still have bills and...

[This story first appeared on Boston Restaurant Talk.] A popular beer garden in the heart of Boston has finally opened for the season, according to Boston’s Hidden Restaurants. Trillium Garden on The Greenway reopens starting Friday at noon, with small-batch brewing of limited releases taking place on the premises while a completely contactless system of ordering food (from one...

An analysis conducted by The Associated Press and Chalkbeat shows that districts where the vast majority of students are white are more than three times as likely as school districts that enroll mostly students of color to be open for some in-person learning.

“This is unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in my career. And quite frankly, my life.” That’s how Patrick Tutwiler, superintendent of schools in Lynn, Massachusetts, describes the ongoing and evolving response to the pandemic. And it’s complicated in the City of Lynn, which has one of the highest COVID rates in the state. That means they will be all...

Spend a few minutes on the roof of Quinn Middle School in Hudson, Massachusetts, with Sarah Maston, and it’s clear she knows plenty about how schools are heated and cooled. Maston, a mechanical engineer, is also a former school committee member and mom. And as schools across the state prepare to resume classes amid the pandemic, she says air...

Massachusetts’ new COVID-19 dashboard is an easy, color-coded way to see which communities are experiencing spikes in positive test results. But the so-called “red” communities can often have vastly different case numbers. For example, of the nine cities and towns currently in the highest risk category, Lynn has 236 cases over a two-week period, while Sutton has just 10 cases…

As students have begun returning to campuses and taking classes at colleges and universities across the country, schools in Boston and throughout Massachusetts have seemed to fare better than many in other parts of U.S. “We have been in a place where we have been following public health guidance,” said Kenneth Elmore, associate provost and dean of students for...

With thousands of individual school districts in the United States and no consolidated directive on how to begin fall classes — whether in-person, completely online or a combination of both — local communities are facing uncertain times.

There’s a lot of anxiety as the new school year approaches in Massachusetts with discussions ongoing about whether students or teachers will return to the classroom.