Gov. Charlie Baker is targeting social gatherings as COVID rates increase in Massachusetts. Public health leaders say workplaces are the leading source of infections.

Schools, businesses encouraged to stay open

With COVID cases rising to levels not seen since May, Gov. Charlie Baker imposed a curfew on restaurants and other businesses between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m., but stopped short of rolling back the state’s reopening of public places of accommodation.

On Friday, a stay-at-home advisory aimed at limiting social gatherings will require Massachusetts residents to remain at home between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Baker’s curfews comes as COVID cases are up 278% and hospitalizations are up 145% since Labor Day.

“Both those trends are obviously headed in the wrong direction,” Baker said during a news briefing at the State House. “The data points to a clear need to do something about these trends now.”

Baker also said the state would not re-impose a stay-at-home order or close schools. Large public gathering spaces including theatres, fitness centers and indoor and outdoor sports facilities will remain open.

Baker placed an emphasis on private gatherings as a force driving the spread of coronavirus infections, while pledging to keep places of public accommodation open.

“What we should not do to deal with these trends is shut down our economy or close our schools,” Baker said. “Schools are not spreaders, here or anywhere else.”

Baker administration officials have urged school districts in Massachusetts to remain open for in-person instruction, threatening districts that close with audits.

But most large cities in the commonwealth have ordered schools closed, including in Boston, Worcester, Springfield, Brockton, Lynn, Lowell and Lawrence.

Those school districts have large percentages of Black and Latino students. Black and Latino communities have had higher infection rates and higher mortality rates than white communities.

In line with his administration’s emphasis on containing the spread in residential settings, the governor announced a ban on indoor gatherings at private residences of more than 10 people and outdoor gatherings at private residences of more than 25 people.

The order also requires that organizers of gatherings report known positive COVID-19 cases to local health departments and requires organizers to cooperate with contact tracing. The gatherings order authorizes continued enforcement by local health and police departments with fines of $500 for each person above the limit at a gathering.

Baker also signed an updated order requiring all persons to wear face-coverings in all public places, even where they are able to maintain 6 feet of distance from others.

The revised order still allows for an exception for residents who cannot wear a face-covering due to a medical or disabling condition, but it allows employers to require employees to provide proof of such a condition.

Baker’s new orders drew criticism from Massachusetts Public Health Association Executive Director Carlene Pavlos.

“We appreciate that Governor Baker recognizes that new actions must be taken to contain the surge in COVID cases, but he missed the opportunity to take the kinds of bold actions needed to protect all residents of Massachusetts,” she said in a press statement.

Pavlos disputed the Baker administration’s contention that social gatherings are the main sources of coronavirus spread, noting that just 67 cases out of 8,000 were linked to such gatherings while more than 1,000 have been traced to places where people work. She said the administration should put resources into helping workplaces better protect against spread and provide inspections of local businesses for compliance with state guidelines.

“Each of us must take responsibility to stop the spread, but COVID can’t be stopped by personal responsibility alone,” Pavlos said. “Workers, people who need to double up in apartments because they were evicted, people living in shelters, and people who are incarcerated are just some of the folks suffering the most through no fault of their own.”

Pavlos also said the Baker administration should work to prevent evictions in Massachusetts.

“If the Governor wants people to go home at 9:30, they need a stable home to go to,” she said.