BOSTON (AP) — Nursing homes, assisted living facilities and other congregate care facilities in Massachusetts are now allowed to welcome more visitors and resume group activities for residents given high vaccination rates, the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services said in a statement Wednesday.
These changes align with recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
About 86% of residents in the state’s long-term care facilities have ben fully vaccinated while 98% having received a first dose, the agency said.
Residents can now welcome visitors in their rooms without social distancing when both are fully vaccinated, although masks are still required. Also, activities that require residents to be closer than six feet apart — including card games, dining, and watching movies — can also resume if residents are fully vaccinated.
Visitors who are not vaccinated can still visit, but only in designated spaces where social distancing can be maintained.
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BACK TO SCHOOL
Nearly 60 school districts across Massachusetts received permission from the state education commissioner to delay the resumption of full-time, in-person learning for elementary school-age children, which the state set for April 5, authorities say.
The 58 districts that received a waiver include Brockton, Chelsea, Springfield, and Somerville. Commissioner Jeffrey Riley is still weighing the requests of 10 other districts, including Boston and Worcester — the two largest in the state — The Boston Globe reported.
Riley also denied requests from six districts, which the state would not identify.
“We are pleased that 90% of districts will have their elementary schools back fully in-person by April 5, with all elementary schools in the Commonwealth fully in-person by May 3,” Riley said in a statement Tuesday. “Bringing all our kids back to school is crucial for their educational progress, emotional and social well-being, and we will continue to work with districts to bring students back ahead of their waiver-approved return dates.”
The state has directed middle schools to fully reopen by April 28 and is still accepting waiver requests. A return date for high schools has not been scheduled.
Parents retain the right to keep their children in full-time distance learning for the remainder of the school year.
School districts granted the waivers welcomed the news.
“Delaying our transition to in-person learning until April 26 will give the Brockton Public Schools time to address our new transportation needs and to procure large tents so that we can host lunch periods outdoors,” said Jess Hodges, a Brockton schools spokesperson.
Not everyone was happy.
“It feels like they are playing with our kids’ future,” said Caitrin MacDonald, a mother of three children in Somerville. “This is politics over education.” MacDonald said she worries about her children falling behind in their classes and the toll of social isolation during the pandemic.
