BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Governor Charlie Baker gave the latest news on the state's response to COVID-19 on Thursday.
Baker said that Massachusetts is the first state in the U.S. to begin the practice of contact tracing, and he asks that if you are called by the contact tracers, to pick up.
"A couple minutes of your time and cooperation is key," Governor Baker said.
Contact tracing helps identify who has potentially been exposed to the virus.
"We consider this to be a critical effort, to not only slow the spread of coronavirus, but to help our Commonwealth return to some semblance of normal life while keeping an eye on where the virus is still present," Baker said.
Baker said they are still training and hiring employees; 176 people have already been hired.
Next, Baker discussed unemployment in the state. He said 570,000 people have filed since the pandemic began. Despite the number of checks going out having multiplied significantly, the website has not crashed.
Massachusetts has tested 131,023 people so far, according to Baker.
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