From CommonWealth Magazine we share two articles of interest for Franklin:
SJC upholds Baker’s sweeping COVID-19 authority
"THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT strongly affirmed that Gov. Charlie Baker’s March 10 declaration of a COVID-19 emergency and his long list of subsequent orders shutting down and opening up parts of the state economy were a proper exercise of his authority under the 1950 Civil Defense Act.
The unanimous decision, written by Justice Elspeth Cypher, examined and dismissed various legal arguments suggesting Baker had exceeded his authority, but there was an undercurrent throughout the opinion of respect for the governor’s actions.
“The emergency orders as a whole were informed by public health recommendations and serve the state interest of stopping the spread of COVID-19, which is a legitimate state interest,” the court wrote.
Cypher, during oral arguments on the case on September 11, reflected the court’s concern about undermining the governor’s legal authority during a time of crisis. “Don’t you have to admit that Gov. Baker has done a pretty darn good job here, especially when you compare him to other states?” she asked."
Continue reading the article online
Mass. moves into high-risk COVID category
"THE STATE AS A WHOLE moved into the high-risk COVID-19 category on Thursday as 158 communities were colored red and case counts continued to mount precipitously in Lawrence.
The state as a whole reported 50 cases per 100,000 people over the last two weeks, its highest level since a new, more lenient metric system was implemented on November 6. The state’s positive test rate (positive tests divided by total tests) also hit a new high of 5.25 percent.
The number of high-risk, or red, communities totaled 158, up from 97 a week ago and 62 three weeks ago. There were 92 yellow, or moderate-risk, communities, and a total of 101 in the low-risk green and gray categories."
Continue reading the article online
And from Sharon Machlis, an avid "data geek", comes this rendering of the COVID-19 map as it would have been with the prior set of guidelines.
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| "If the Mass Dept of Public Health were still creating maps under the original #Covid19 risk color scale, today's would look like this: More info and graphs on Mass data at apps.machlis.com/shiny/ma_coron |
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