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No health-club or theater openings in Somerville until at least July 13
By adamg on Sat, 07/04/2020 - 11:00am
Somerville announced yesterday it's pushing back its version of Gov. Baker's phase-3 reopening until at least July 13 - and might wait even longer to relax restrictions on health clubs, outdoor gatherings and movie theaters because of the continued escalation of Covid-19 in much of the country.
With the announcement, Somerville joins Boston in waiting at least a week to ease more Covid-19 restrictions on certain types of businesses and gatherings.
With COVID-19 cases on the rise throughout much of the country, Somerville Phase 3 reopenings - and implementation of gatherings guidance - will proceed on a more cautious schedule than those outlined by the Governor. ...
Businesses in the Phase 3 reopening include large indoor venues generally considered to be at high risk for viral spread without proper measures in place, such as movie theaters, cultural centers, and performance venues. Opening dates and gathering guidelines will be announced after due diligence has been performed to ensure activities will proceed with proper safety measures and plans in place that will reduce risk to public health and be part of a sustainable reopening.
The Governor’s plan allows for reopenings to start Monday, July 6, except for in Boston, which will reopen July 13. Yet, as with most previous phases, Somerville will take a more cautious approach given that it is the most densely populated city in Massachusetts and in the heart of the metro Boston region.
The Somerville announcement does not apply to health-care facilities, the city says.
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Comments
Magoo sez.
Magoo is so sad. It seems fellow Uhub commenters don’t like Magoo. Should Magoo retire? :-(. Magoo.
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Magoo sez
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makes sense.
somerville is one of the top ten most populated citys in the country.
and most densely populated
Followed by Cambridge, Chelsea, Boston.
Dense but not immobile
I don't have a stance on the delayed reopening although it seems fairly irrelevant. If nearby towns have an earlier date, somervillians can just go the extra mile if they want. MA cities and towns are tiny so you don't need to go far to cross a border. So statewide mandates are far more significant.
It's not as if COVID will float around the town on air like a bad stench. Requiring (and enforcing!) masks indoors is by far the most important move. People are pretty good but I've noticed a big rise in the number of exposed noses.
Out west where towns are hundreds of square miles, one city adding a prohibition is significant.
The problem is, however
that all it takes is a minority of scofflaws who refuse to abide by the rules of wearing masks, with their mouths and noses covered and of social distancing to make it super-difficult for and screw everybody else. It's disgusting, and it pisses me off no end.
Delaying the re-opening of movie theatres, gyms, etc., is necessary because of these goddamned fucking scofflaws who don't give a shit about anybody but themselves.
Okay but it doesn't make sense
Based on the numbers alone, it sure doesn't seem like Somerville would have to move slowly ..
They haven't had a positive case in days and the growth in positives has been anemic during the past thirty days, and longer. They've been adding around 2-3 new cases per day during the past month, in a city of 80,000 residents.
Somerville's waiting on retail numbers...
... since stores at Assembly and around town are slowly reopening, they've been able to keep the numbers down so far.
It's safer to only open one thing at a time, wait two-three weeks, see numbers & come up with mitigation as necessary, and then do the next limited opening.
Watertown is similar; we are slowly opening up at the Malls, and some of the restaurants; once we see the numbers from those, we'll have enough data to decide whether it's safe to open Crossfit or Central Rock or any of the yoga or martial arts joints.
This is a situation where heuristics work. Municipalities should all be doing this, based on local data, within the state guidelines.
Those 80,000 residents all
Those 80,000 residents all live in 4 square miles.
I don't think the Somerville Theatre is in any hurry to reopen
The Capitol Theatre in Arlington is the other venue in that (very small) chain, and although they are allowed to reopen tomorrow, they're not doing so.
The proprietors of the Somerville Theatre and other theatres
are smart to wait to re-open. Sure, it would be nice to go to the movie theatres again, but that will have to wait.
I'm glad I've been keeping busy to make up for it.