Ahead of call with Trump, Baker cautions against 'letting up now'
Before participating in a conference call with other governors and President Donald Trump, Gov. Charlie Baker expressed wariness Thursday about rushing to loosen social distancing restrictions before Massachusetts gets through the worst of the COVID-19 outbreak.
The surge in cases long expected to hit the state's health care system in mid-April has arrived, Baker said, and the peak likely will come this month. He urged the public to continue following orders designed to slow the virus and to maintain diligence, even after weeks of widespread shutdowns.
"I know it's difficult for everybody to hear this, particularly given how significantly their lives have been upended over the course of the past five weeks, but this virus obviously doesn't work on a schedule," Baker told reporters during his Thursday news briefing. "But, it can be killed when we all do our jobs to slow the spread. I know it's been a long time, but letting up now would only result in greater harm."
When and to what degree to revive economic activity has emerged as a point of tension between Trump, who has pushed for starting to reopen businesses in early May, and some state leaders, who argue that the public health risks outweigh the benefits of lifting nonessential closures.
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