BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Mayor Marty Walsh has confirmed there are now 45 cases of coronavirus in the city of Boston. Speaking to the press on Wednesday afternoon, Mayor Walsh said social distancing "is a must."
"The impact in just 10 days has been dramatic, and this is potentially going to go on a lot longer than this," said Mayor Walsh. "I would love to say by ... April 15 we'll be in a lot better place, but I can't say that. We just don't know."
Outside City Hall, Mayor Walsh also quashed rumors of a possible shelter-in-place order for the city. He told WBZ NewsRadio there is no plan for the order, but that "it's back of mind" during this fluid situation.
"I think a lot of people are ... seeing that the U.S. - Canadian border was closed because of coronavirus. Nearly 8 million people ordered to shelter-in-place in Northern California. You have conversations going on in New York. But I think, again it's really monitoring and looking at the numbers of the positive cases we have here."
Mayor Walsh also said there are no plans right now to close homeless shelters in the city. However, there are plans being made for the possible isolation of any homeless person who does get coronavirus.
Walsh said as the number of cases in the city continue to climb, it's important for everyone to distance themselves socially in order to stem the spread of the virus.
"I think the best thing we can do for people is if you can stay at home, work from home, do that," said Walsh. "Employers; any employee you can let work from home we're asking you to let that happen... It's about preventing the spread, and that's something that's really important for us."
WBZ NewsRadio's Kim Tunnicliffe (@KimWBZ) reports
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