Gov. Charlie Baker has declared a state of emergence in Massachusetts after the state reported coronavirus cases doubled in 24 hours to a total of 92 on Tuesday.
"I'm declaring a state of emergency in Massachusetts," Baker announced Tuesday afternoon. "This declaration will give our administration more flexibility to respond to this evolving outbreak."
A large majority of the cases centered around a Biogen meeting Feb. 24-27 in Boston's seaport district, which accounts for 70 of the 92 cases, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.
The 92 cases represent a 100% jump from the 41 cases reported in Massachusetts just 24 hours earlier, according to reports.
"The purpose of moving forward with these measures now is to act before the numbers increase to a point where the virus spread is severely impacting the Commonwealth," Baker said. "The highly contagious nature of this disease means if everyone plays their part in slowing the spread the number of people who become infected and require medical attention doesn't spike all at once, which would overwhelm many of our systems."
Washington, California, and New York have also declared a state of emergency thus far amid the coronavirus outbreak.
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh has already canceled the St. Patrick's parade in the city, but there has been no decision made for April 20's Boston Marathon.
Walsh called it a "very fluid situation."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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