Baker Says Surge In Coronavirus Increased Among Younger People (Video)

Massachusetts health officials have reported more than 1,000 new confirmed coronavirus cases for the third consecutive day.

The Department of Public Health on Monday said the 1,216 new cases were out of about 20,000 tests, a positivity rate of about 6%.

The total number of confirmed cases in the state is now more than 148,000. The state also reported 17 more deaths from the virus, pushing the death toll to more than 9,650.

As Of October 26th the number of people in the state’s hospitals with COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, climbed to 550.

Gov. Charlie Baker says the recent surge in confirmed coronavirus cases in Massachusetts is being driven in large part by an increase among younger people.

Baker said Tuesday that 15% of new cases in April were among people under the age of 30 but that 37% of the new confirmed cases are people in that age group.

He urged people to stop holding indoor parties and reminded people that outdoor trick-or-treating on Halloween is safer.

WPRI/YouTube

Baker also urged people to limit Thanksgiving gatherings to members of the same household and limit guests.

New York’s governor is now urging residents to avoid nonessential travel to neighboring Massachusetts, as the state adds California to its COVID-19 advisory.

Residents from states on New York’s quarantine list must self-quarantine for 14 days. Only seven states including New York have reported an average of fewer than 10 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days.

New York is not adding its neighboring states to its official advisory list because Gov. Andrew Cuomo says it's too hard to enforce quarantine rules in the interconnected region.