Health & Fitness
First Stay-At-Home Order Issued, State Eyes Field Hospitals
Nantucket has become the first community to declare its own stay-at-home order. Meanwhile, the state is proposing sites for field hospitals.
Nantucket has become the first community in Massachusetts to order residents to stay home in an attempt to slow the spread of the new coronavirus. The town made the announcement shortly after news of the first positive test of COVID-19 on the island.
The stay-at-home order, voted on by the Board of Health, goes into effect Monday and will last util April 6, though there will be a weekly review to see when it will be lifted — including the possibility of it going beyond April 6, Assistant Town Manager Greg Tivnan said.
"Beating this unprecedented public health threat is the responsibility of the entire Nantucket community," Tivnan wrote in a letter. "The health of Nantucket is in our hands."
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The order is not a lockdown and essential services such as grocery stores, pharmacies and even restaurants and cafes performing takeout and delivery will remain open.
"All persons living in the Town and County of Nantucket are directed to stay at their place of residence until further notice," the letter said.
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Nantucket is the first community to issue such an order in Massachusetts. Gov. Charlie Baker has repeatedly said he is not planning a statewide shutdown — even after several states, including California, New York, Illinois and Connecticut put similar orders into effect.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has also said he had no plans for a stay-at-home order, but acknowledged that things are changing rapidly and conversations could be different going forward.
Baker, who spoke earlier Sunday afternoon at Morning Star Baptist Church in Mattapan, said the state is expected to propose sites for field hospitals in the next few days.
"They can put that stuff up in two or three weeks," Baker said.
He also said testing has increased more than 50 percent per day over the weekend.
"I fully expect that testing will go up in leaps and bounds," Baker said. "As we test more we are going to find more people who are infected."
Christopher Huffaker, Patch staff, contributed to this report
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