Bottom Line Up Front:
At this time, most of the cases of COVID-19 are related to a single cluster associated with a conference at a hotel in Boston, MA. Due to the current level of COVID-19 transmission in Massachusetts, CDC recommends certain community mitigation activities to help slow the spread of COVID-19 into the community and to protect vulnerable members of the community. CDC recommends the following interventions be implemented at this time (Table). These recommendations may be updated, if necessary, based on any changes in the current local situation.
Goals
The goals for using mitigation strategies for Massachusetts are to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the community and to protect:
- Individuals at increased risk for severe illness, including older adults and persons of any age with underlying health conditions (See Appendix A).
- The healthcare workforce and critical infrastructure workforces
These approaches are used to minimize morbidity and mortality caused by COVID-19 and minimize social and economic impacts of COVID-19. Individuals, communities, businesses, and healthcare organizations are all part of a community mitigation strategy.
Implementation emphasizes:
- Emphasizing individual responsibility for implementation of recommended personal-level actions,
- Empowering businesses, schools, and community organizations to implement recommended actions, particularly in ways that protect persons at risk of severe illness such as older adults and persons with serious underlying health conditions (e.g., people requiring dialysis , or those with congestive heart failure or emphysema)
- Focusing on settings that provide critical services to implement recommended actions to protect critical infrastructure and individuals at risk of severe disease
- Minimizing disruptions to daily life to the extent possible