The COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts was part of a pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The first confirmed case was reported on February 1, 2020, and the number of cases began increasing rapidly on March 5. Governor Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency on March 10. By March 12, more than a hundred people had tested positive for the virus. Massachusetts experienced a first wave of COVID-19 that peaked in late April 2020, with almost 4,000 people hospitalized with the disease, and a rolling seven-day average of 2,300 new confirmed cases and 175 confirmed deaths a day. A second wave began in the autumn of the same year and peaked in January 2021, seeing higher daily case numbers but fewer deaths and hospitalizations than the first wave. There was a smaller third spike of increased cases and hospitalizations in March and April 2021, which resulted in significantly fewer deaths than the first two waves. A fourth wave began in July and August 2021. Another wave occurred in the winter of 2021 to 2022, coinciding with the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in the state, and exceeding the peak number of cases in any previous wave. As of January 13, 2022, Massachusetts was experiencing a rolling average of 13,314 new confirmed cases and 43 confirmed deaths per day.
As of January 13, 2022, Massachusetts had the third-highest number of reported cases per capita out of U.S. states over the previous seven-day period, with 2,416.4 cases per 100,000 people. It had the 14th-highest number of deaths per capita over the same period, with 5.4 deaths per 100,000 people. There had been 1,411,613 total reported COVID-19 cases and 20,872 reported deaths among cases of COVID-19 in Massachusetts since the beginning of the pandemic. The state had tested more than 10 million people for the virus via molecular test, and more than 1.8 million via antigen test. As of January 7, 2022, 91.6% of people in Massachusetts had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 75.0% were fully vaccinated.
Timeline
2020
February–March
The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed by state health officials on February 1, making Massachusetts the fifth state in the U.S. to report a case of COVID-19. The individual, a University of Massachusetts Boston student, had returned to Boston from Wuhan, Hubei, China. 175 executives of Biogen, a biotechnology company based in Cambridge, held a two-day leadership conference from February 26–28 at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf hotel. Infected participants of the conference were later determined to have spread COVID-19 variant C2416T, which showed the conference was a superspreading event.
The second confirmed case in Massachusetts was reported on March 2. The first evidence of community transmission, also known as community spread, was found in a handful of cases in the Berkshires on March 10.
On March 13, Governor Charlie Baker prohibited gatherings of more than 250 people. The measure was targeted at large events and exempted most workplaces, transit buildings, polling locations, government buildings, and schools. Cardinal O'Malley, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Boston, announced that all daily and Sunday masses and other religious services would be suspended in the Archdiocese of Boston. On March 15, Baker ordered all public and private schools in the state to close for three weeks, from March 17 through April 7. The same day, Baker banned dining at restaurants, banned gatherings of more than 25 people, relaxed unemployment claim requirements, and enacted other interventions to try to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Major hospitals began reusing protective gear or asking the public for donations of masks in mid-March. Massachusetts experienced its first death due to COVID-19 on March 20. On March 23, a stay-at-home advisory was ordered for all of Massachusetts from March 24 until April 7.
April–May
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced on April 2, that the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC) would be converted into a 1,000-bed field hospital, which would later be named Boston Hope. On April 5, Boston Mayor Walsh announced a voluntary city-wide curfew for non-emergency workers in Boston from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m., and asked all Bostonians to wear face coverings in public. Governor Baker signed a law on April 20 banning residential and small business evictions and foreclosures on homeowners (other than emergencies), to remain in effect for four months or until the state of emergency is ended. Governor Baker also announced on April 20 that Massachusetts schools would not return to in-person learning for the remainder of the academic year, and extended through June 29 a previous order to close non-emergency childcare services.
4,946 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Massachusetts on April 24, a date that would later be determined to be the peak in the first wave of cases as measured by new daily cases.
On April 28, it was reported that at the Soldiers' Home in Holyoke, at least 68 veterans – nearly 30 percent of the home's residents – had died of COVID-19 in what was at the time believed to be the deadliest outbreak at a long-term care facility in the United States.
Governor Baker issued an order on May 1, to go into effect on May 6, that required people to cover their faces in public when in situations where they were unable to keep six feet away from others. A group of several hundred anti-lockdown protesters gathered outside the Massachusetts State House on May 4 to urge Governor Baker to lift the state's stay-at-home advisory and reopen businesses.
Baker released the details of the four-phased plan to reopen businesses in Massachusetts on May 11. The stay-at-home advisory, which had been in place from March 23 and was set to expire on May 18, was modified on May 18 to a set of "safer at home" recommendations. Phase 1 of the state's reopening plan commenced on May 18, and places of worship, essential businesses, manufacturing businesses, and construction sites were allowed reopen with strict restrictions. Hospitals and health centers were also permitted to begin providing urgent preventive care and treatment services to high-risk patients.
Baker announced in a press conference on May 26 that the surge in COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts was over, as evidenced by declining numbers of people hospitalized by the disease.
June–July
Following positive trends in access to testing and decreasing hospitalizations, Massachusetts entered the first stage of Phase 2 of its reopening plan on June 8. This allowed childcare, day camps, lodging retail stores, outdoor seating at restaurants, and children's sports programs to reopen with strict precautions. The state entered stage two of Phase 2 on June 22. The June unemployment rate in Massachusetts was later calculated at 17.4%, a record high for the state and the worst of any U.S. state at the time.
Governor Baker announced on July 2 that Massachusetts would enter the first stage of Phase 3 of its reopening plan starting on Monday, July 6.
Towards the end of the month, Massachusetts began to experience a slight reversal in what had previously been positive trends in case data. Governor Baker blamed "disturbing reports of large gatherings" on the uptick in cases, a trend he described as attributable to people not following guidelines rather than a result of moving forward in the state's reopening plan.
August–September
Governor Baker announced on August 7 that Massachusetts would postpone entering the second portion of Phase 3 of the state's reopening plan, intensify enforcement of COVID-19 regulation violations, and reduce the limit on the number of people allowed at public and private outdoors events from 100 to 50. The changes were announced after several incidents in which large parties were found to be violating the state guidelines on the numbers of people allowed to gather, as well as on masks and physical distancing.
Massachusetts school districts were required to submit their final plans for teaching in the fall, along with detailed safety protocols, by August 14. By August 21, around 30% of Massachusetts' 289 school districts had announced they would be teaching completely remotely to start the school year. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced on August 19 that children above the age of six months who were attending childcare, K–12 schools, and colleges and universities in the state would be required to receive a flu vaccine by December 31, 2020, in order to attend schools. This spurred some protests, including a rally of several hundred outside the State House on August 30, from parents and those who believed the decision was governmental overreach. Some colleges in Massachusetts began moving students in to dorms in mid-August.
On September 29, Governor Baker announced that communities classified by the state as "lower risk" would be allowed to move into step two of the third phase of the state's reopening plan beginning on October 5. This step included allowing both indoor and outdoor performance venues to open at 50% capacity (up to 250 people); fitting rooms to open in retail stores; and gyms, museums, libraries, and driving and flight schools to increase capacity to 50%. The Massachusetts Coalition for Health Equity criticized Baker's choice to continue reopening the state, citing concerns over increasing cases and positive test rates.
October–November
The Boston Globe reported on October 26, that COVID-19 cases in the state had risen sharply on October 22, and "have been maintaining levels we haven't seen in months". The previous day, the Globe reported that the state had acknowledged not knowing the source of infection in approximately half of the known cases in the state, raising concerns with the state's ability to identify and quickly reduce the impact of pockets of infection. Thirteen communities in Massachusetts returned to step 1 of phase 3 of the state's reopening plan after spending three weeks in the "high risk" designation.
On November 2, Governor Baker announced a statewide curfew for businesses, a tighter limit on the number of people allowed to gather indoors, and stricter face mask requirements. The previous face mask requirements applied only indoors where social distancing was not possible, and thus, were very difficult to enforce, and in practice did not exist at all. The new order required face coverings in all public places and was enforced by fines, leading mask compliance in Massachusetts to go from spotty at best to near-universal after the new mandate. The curfew required some businesses such as theaters and casinos to close at 9:30 p.m., and requires restaurants to stop providing table service at that same time. Baker also implemented a stay-at-home advisory, to begin on November 6, to encourage people to stay home between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.
December
On December 3, Massachusetts' average positive COVID-19 test rate exceeded 4.9% for the first time since June. Total daily case numbers in the first few days of December began to surpass those seen at the April peak of the first wave of COVID-19 in the state. On December 8, Governor Baker announced that all cities and towns in Massachusetts would be required to roll back to Phase 3, Step 1 of the state's reopening plan.
On December 9, Baker announced an estimated timeline for distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine. The state's first doses arrived five days later.
2021
January–June
Governor Baker announced on January 4, 2021, that first responders would begin to receive doses of the COVID-19 vaccine on January 11. The following day, Baker warned that it was likely that the highly contagious variant of COVID-19 first discovered in the United Kingdom had made its way to Massachusetts, and urged state residents to "be very vigilant and careful and cautious about [their] physical engagement with other people". On January 17, the first case of the variant in Massachusetts was confirmed.
On February 1, Massachusetts entered phase two of its vaccine program, making residents 75 years of age and older eligible for the vaccine. A mass vaccination site opened at Boston's Fenway Park on the same day; it was one of two such sites operating in the state, along with one at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. Phase two later expanded to people with comorbidities, in high-risk professions, and those 65 years of age and older.
On March 1, Massachusetts entered Phase 3, Step 2 of its reopening plan, removing capacity limits for restaurants and allowing live music performances to resume at limited capacity. On March 22, Massachusetts entered Phase 4, Step 1. Along with the new phase of the reopening plan, the previous travel order which had been in place since August 2020 was lifted and replaced with a travel advisory, which recommended a ten-day quarantine for visitors and returning residents to the state, but did not require it.
By April 5, 90% of elementary schools in the state were providing in-person education full-time. On April 19, phase three vaccination became available to anyone sixteen years old or older. On April 30, the state relaxed its mask mandate to no longer require face coverings outside when able to remain six feet from others. The new order also recommended, but no longer required, individuals to wear masks in small private gatherings. Other requirements, such as wearing masks in indoor public spaces or at larger events, remained in effect.
After the CDC voted to approve the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in children 12 and older, Massachusetts made the vaccine available to children in that age group beginning on May 13.
Governor Baker announced on May 17, that most remaining COVID-19-related restrictions, including mask mandates (in most settings), industry restrictions, and capacity and gathering limits, would be lifted on May 29. The state of emergency ended on June 15.