The surge in cases of the novel coronavirus after Thanksgiving has put the state's medical system under duress and threatens its ability to continue to operate. Public health officials are bracing for another surge following the Christmas and New Year's holidays.
"If the second holiday season produces a surge in infections that we saw similar to the one that came out of Thanksgiving, we'll be in serious danger of overwhelming, our health-care system," said Gov. Charlie Baker at Monday's briefing. "We're basically begging everyone to stay within their immediate household over the course of this holiday season."
The governor asked residents to consider the consequences of the actions they take over the next two weeks.