Governor Baker Extends Gathering & Capacity Restrictions

Governor Baker announced today that the restrictions on public gatherings and business capacity will continue for another 2 weeks. The Governor made the announcement at the State House. The extension will be in effect to at least January 24^th.

Public gatherings are limited to 25 people. Indoors that limit is 10 people. Businesses already hit hard by the pandemic are required to continue to operate at 25% capacity. Employees of retailers, restaurants and places of worship to not count against the capacity counts.

Governor Baker’s extension on restrictions comes on the heel of increasing numbers in the state stating “We need to stay in this game a little longer, especially during this most crucial period to stop the spread of the virus and build the bridge to vaccines.”

Not only are numbers on the rise throughout the state but also in the Berkshires. Wednesday 6,419 cases were reported in Mass with 99 lives lost yesterday. In Berkshire County as of yesterday five additional lives were lost increasing the total to 155 COVID-19 related deaths in the county. The case count increased by 86 totaling 3,260. According to the CovidActNow website the positive test rate in Berkshire County is 5.4%. For every 1,000 tests and average of 47.4% are coming back positive.