BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — At a news conference on Tuesday, public health officials in Massachusetts said there is evidence community-spread coronavirus in Massachusetts.
“Here in Massachusetts, person-to-person spread of the virus in the community is beginning to occur among individuals without identifiable risk factors,” Massachusetts Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Monica Bharel said.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said that this is happening in Western Massachusetts, but "there's no evidence as of right now for community transmission in Boston."
The announcement came on the same day that Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency in Massachusetts amid the outbreak.
State Of Emergency Declared In Massachusetts Over Coronavirus
In a tweet, Gov. Baker said he is urging employers and "other organizations to follow our example and limit or eliminate nonessential travel, limit or eliminate large events and explore telework where possible + appropriate."
Dr. Bharel said the Department of Public Health is "assisting the people" where they are seeing the beginning of person-to-person transmission.
"As community transmission of COVID-19 becomes more common, the public health approach shifts to one of mitigation, and that is reducing the impact," Dr. Bharel said.
WBZ NewsRadio's James Rojas (@JamesRojasWBZ) reports
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