Hide Transcript Show Transcript

SHOULD BE DOING NEXT. GOVERNOR CHARLIE BAKER IN WESTERN MASS, CALLING ON THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO STEP IT UP WHEN IT COMES TO TESTING FOR THE CORONAVIRUS. HE SAYS LETTING HOSPITALS AND PRIVATE LABS PERFORM THE TESTS WILL MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE. >> THE FACT THAT THE STATE LAB IS THE SINGLE SOURCE OF TESTING AT THIS POINT IN TIME IS NOT ADEQUATE. REPORTER: THE GOVERNOR MET WITH LOCAL LEADERS IN PITTSFIELD. THE VIRUS HAS SPREAD IN THAT PART OF THE STATE WITH NO KNOWN SOURCE. WHILE HE IS CALLING FOR RAMPING UP TESTING, GOVERNOR BAKER SAYS THE STATE HAS RECEIVED INCREASED SUPPLIES. >> SO WE GOT ENOUGH TO DO 5000 MORE PEOPLE. REPORTER: WITHOUT ENOUGH TESTS, IT’S UNCLEAR HOW WIDESPREAD THE VIRUS IS. SOME DOCTORS SAY THEY CAN’T RUN TESTS ON EVERYONE THEY WANT, AND THE STATE’S NURSES UNION HAS SENT A LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR SAYING TESTING IS NOT WIDELY AVAILABLE. AS FOR SCHOOLS, THE GOVERNOR SAYS BY FRIDAY, STATE HEALTH OFFICIALS WILL PUT OUT GUIDANCE TO HELP LOCAL DISTRICTS DECIDE WHAT’S NEXT. GOV. BAKER: AND THEN MAKE SURE THEY HAVE THE FLEXIBILITY THEY THINK IS MOST APPROPRIATE FOR THEIR COMMUNITY. REPORTER: STATE LAWMAKERS, BOTH THE HOUSE AND SENATE, PAST A $15 MILLION SPENDING PAC

Advertisement Massachusetts reports 13 new coronavirus cases in past 24 hours 5,000 new test kits delivered to state lab Share Shares Copy Link Copy

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health added 13 new coronavirus cases to the state's total Thursday afternoon, bring the total to 108 presumptive and confirmed cases across Massachusetts. There were two new cases reported in Berkshire County, one new case in Essex County, five new cases in Middlesex County, one new one in Norfolk County, three new ones in Suffolk County and one new case where the source of origin is unknown. Of all the cases across the Commonwealth, 10 patients had to be hospitalized, while 89 of the patients did not need any hospitalization.The state health statistics indicate eight of the cases were related to Berkshire Medical Center, 82 of the cases connected to a Biogen Conference held in Boston, five were travel related and 13 cases where the origin was still under investigation. Sources told 5 Investigates that the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner had also tested 6 people posthumously for COVID-19 and all the tests came back negative. The OCME said tests will continue to be run in the case of unattended deaths that meet appropriate criteria. Speaking in Pittsfield Thursday, Gov. Charlie Baker said the increasing number of cases is related to the increased amount of tests being conducted. The rate of testing will continue to accelerate, he said. "Our lab recently received enough materials to conduct an additional 5,000 kit tests," Baker announced. "Thankfully, the Mass. DPH is more advanced than it is in many other states and that enables the lab to now process four times as many samples as it was processing a week ago.” Still, Baker said he and state health officials are asking the federal government to provide more assistance and begin approving hospitals and private labs to conduct the test for the virus. "We need the federal government -- the CDC and FDA in particular -- to give hospitals and testing facilities here in Massachusetts that have the capacity to test the material and then the approval they need to actually begin to test themselves," Baker said.Baker said his administration has been in touch with the state's Congressional delegation and the Trump administration about securing approvals for additional testing sites, including hospitals and private labs."We have hospitals in eastern Massachusetts, central Massachusetts, western Massachusetts, we have labs not related to hospitals, independent privately operated labs, all of which have the capacity to do this if they can get several requirements and authorizations from the feds," Baker said.The updated numbers come on the same day the Marriott Long Wharf hotel in Boston closed its doors in the interest of public health and in consultation with the Boston Public Health Commission “as a result of new information.”The hotel was the site of a biotech meeting that appears to be the source of a cluster of the coronavirus in the U.S. Seventy-seven of the 95 cases in Massachusetts have been linked to a meeting of executives of Biogen, a Cambridge-based firm that develops therapies for neurological diseases, state officials said.The Massachusetts House and Senate on Thursday approved a $15 million supplemental budget to help the state respond to the rise of COVID-19 cases.Gov. Charlie Baker, who declared a state of emergency in Massachusetts, welcomed the extra funding.Democratic Senate President Karen Spilka said last week that the goal of the funding is to help state and local officials better prepare for the impacts of the virus.All federal jury trials in Massachusetts scheduled to begin before April 27 have been postponed until further notice "in order to protect public health."According to the State Department of Health's third weekly report about quarantine numbers, which was posted Wednesday, 445 people in Massachusetts are undergoing the two-week-long process. Another 638 individuals had completed that process and are no longer in quarantine.Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday declared a state of emergency for Massachusetts.PHNjcmlwdCBpZD0iaW5mb2dyYW1fMF85MTUyMTg3My03NmRhLTQ0ZmUtOTA0Ny1mMTllZWFlZGFjNmQiIHRpdGxlPSJDb3JvbmF2aXJ1cyBpbiBNYXNzYWNodXNldHRzIiBzcmM9Imh0dHBzOi8vZS5pbmZvZ3JhbS5jb20vanMvZGlzdC9lbWJlZC5qcz9yeXoiIHR5cGU9InRleHQvamF2YXNjcmlwdCI+PC9zY3JpcHQ+Cg==