Governor Baker Promises Opening Shortly

For John, BLUF:  I think that Governor Baker was under some pressure to make an announcement.  I suspect he didn't want to open too quickly, just in case.  On the other hand, he didn't wish to appear to be aligned with Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Mass. to lift all remaining COVID-19 restrictions and relax mask guidance for fully vaccinated people starting May 29

Alternate Headline:

Re COVID, Gov Baker treats Joe Biden as he did Donald Trump

From The Boston Globe. by Reporters Travis Andersen, Breanne Kovatch, Amanda Kaufman, John Hilliard and Matt Stout, 17 May 2021, 11 AM.

Here is the lede plus two:

In a major move heralding the end of pandemic-era restrictions, Governor Charlie Baker on Monday said Massachusetts will lift all restrictions on businesses on Memorial Day weekend, moving up the full reopening date by two months in the most telling sign yet that the state’s returning to something akin to normal after more than a year of death, sickness, and punishing lockdowns.

Baker announced the change at a press briefing, which followed the CDC’s easing last week of indoor mask guidance for fully vaccinated people.  Baker’s office also confirmed the news in a statement.

The statement said “the Baker-Polito Administration announced that the Commonwealth is on track to meet the goal of vaccinating 4.1 million residents by the first week of June and all remaining COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted effective May 29.”

My first question is, given the announcement was at 11:00 AM, how did all those reporters coordinate on this story so quickly?

This is good news for our Commonwealth, and should allow businesses to surge back.

And thank you to the CDC for giving us this update on what the science says, this last Thursday, 13 May 2021.

Now what do we do, come 29 May?

UPDATE:  A couple of days ago I saw a screed about how President Trump had failed us by not mandating a consistent policy across the 50 States.  Aside from the fact that a one, single, solution for all regions and People does not make sense, there is the fact that we didn't actually know what the perfect solution looked like.  Federalism allowed for local adaptation and for more rapid adaptation.  And we can see various State Governors taking advantage of this federalism, to the benefit of the Residents.

Regards  —  Cliff