Boston, MA

‘Not the end of COVID:’ Some mad health care facilities dropped mask rule

Published

2 years ago

May 15, 2023

‘Not the end of COVID:’ Some mad health care facilities dropped mask rule

While most are trying to move on from the pandemic of the last three years, some Bay Staters feel as though they are being left behind as pandemic-era safety measures come to an end.

The one domino left standing of COVID-19 masking mandates fell on Friday — as health care settings lifted the requirement that patients and doctors alike wear the personal protective equipment that slows the spread of COVID.

“I don’t feel that in a health care setting I should be potentially exposed to further harm as somebody who’s already a vulnerable person,” said Goshen resident Jennifer Ritz Sullivan, who has a disability that puts her at greater risk from COVID-19 and requires her to visit the doctor every week.

There were 979 new, confirmed cases of COVID in Massachusetts in the past week, bringing the total confirmed cases to 2,038,680, according to the Department of Public Health. There were 15 new, confirmed deaths and a total of 174 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 last week in the state.

Ritz Sullivan had been dreading Mother’s Day — a reminder of her mom whom she lost in December 2020 to COVID — when she caught the virus for the first time two weeks ago from her husband. He had been wearing a mask, she said, but caught it at work from another employee who was not.

Though the virus might be mild for some, Ritz Sullivan said she is the “sickest I’ve ever been,” and is worried that Long COVID may further disable her.

Over the last three years, Ritz Sullivan has isolated herself from most of society, ordering groceries and having them brought out to her car instead of going inside of the store, and retreating into her home to minimize risk of catching the virus. But now she has to choose between the medical care she needs and potentially exposing herself to COVID, she said.

“I suppose there’s some folks who get mild symptoms, but for me this is the sickest I’ve ever been. I mean everything from violent vomiting to cold symptoms, everything. And to have it for the first time as the emergency is being lifted, having that combined with Mother’s Day weekend. There’s such a level of coolness that I’m feeling right now. I can only do so much to keep myself safe. I’m doing my best but it’s not enough. You can’t individualize your way out of public health,” she said.

Ritz Sullivan is part of a group of advocates who participated in a “virtual speakout” last week for the state Department of Public Health to reinstate the mask mandate in health care settings.

Activists met on Zoom to discuss the changing requirement, drove vans around the State House and Department of Public Health with signs reading “Give Us Care, Not COVID,” posted a sign on the State House steps that said “We Do Not Consent to Getting COVID At The Doctor” and started a letter-writing campaign to legislators and DPH officials.

Department of Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein said last week that the end of the emergency order “is not the end of COVID.”

Goldstein said the department decided to rescind the mandate after in-depth consideration, conversation and deliberation, a DPH spokesperson said.

“COVID-19 Community Transmission Levels, as monitored by CDC, are down across the Commonwealth, with no county experiencing high transmission since February of this year. So, too, are COVID-19 Community Levels, which are important in monitoring the state of our hospitals and health care systems and can be used to identify when to implement prevention strategies, like masking. Neighboring states have similarly moved away from mandatory, universal masking in health care and have pivoted to a strategy based on individual facility-level criteria,” DPH spokesperson Ann Scales said.

The Healey administration will require facilities to develop “proactive” plans for reviving COVID-19 prevention strategies — potentially including mask mandates — if warning lights begin flashing again, Goldstein said.

He did not outline any threshold or trend that would trigger state action, saying that the department wants hospitals and other facilities to “make local decisions” based on the circumstances they face. Health care facilities must also continue supplying masks to staff, patients and visitors who want them.

Mass General Brigham came under fire last week when it sent out its new masking policy update, saying patients could not ask staff members to wear a mask “because our policies no longer require it. Our system is adhering to current public health recommendations,” the Boston Business Journal reported.

Disability advocates said that the policy violated the Americans with Disabilities Act.

“While the DPH has the right, I suppose, to choose to lift the mask mandate and if they do, hospitals get to choose whether they enforce it, what hospitals can’t be free from is their obligation under the ADA to provide reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. And if someone’s disabled, and they’re at increased risk from COVID, then it would seem to us an absolutely textbook reasonable accommodation for patients to be able to request,” said Colin Killick, executive director of Disability Policy Consortium.

The hospital has since updated this policy online with a new statement that includes, “there are circumstances when masking is an appropriate medical intervention. In those circumstances, caregivers and/or patients will continue to mask, per our policies. Patients can ask, but providers determine when and if masking in a particular situation is clinically necessary,” according to the Boston Business Journal article.

In addition to Mass General Brigham, Boston Medical Center, Tufts Medicine, Beth Israel Lahey Health and UMass Memorial Health are among the hospitals that ended mask requirements last week.

Some doctors and hospital staff will likely continue to wear masks out of personal preference, but for at least one at Mass General Brigham, one-way masking didn’t feel like enough.

Jayda Jones, a master’s student in public health and radiology technical assistant interning at the Boston-based hospital, quit on Thursday — the day before patients and other medical staff would have been allowed to de-mask.

“We’re just waiting until there’s another major COVID-19 outbreak within the hospital to happen again in order for us to switch to wearing masks again — that’s the new Mass General Hospital policy. But from my point of view, it’s always necessary because the pandemic has never ended,” she said.

Jones said she was disappointed to resign from the hospital, where she first secured an internship in high school because of her interest in public health. Since then, she has worked at other medical facilities, but came back to MGH for the last year of her public health master’s program.

“This isn’t a disease that just magically goes away. This manifests in several different ways in the future. We know that. We’ve seen an increase in heart attacks, we’ve seen an increase in adverse cardiovascular outcomes, especially in younger groups from 20 to 39 years old,” she said. “The disabled community isn’t saying we have to go back into lockdown, forcing you back into your house. But we’re saying that when you go into public spaces — especially places they can’t avoid — please do what you can to make it accessible for them.”

When asked, a Mass General Brigham spokesperson said they could not comment on individual employee matters under hospital policy, but “we are committed to ensuring that patients can access medical care in a safe and appropriate manner.”

“We always take appropriate precautions to protect all patients. Our policies are based on public health guidance and that of our infection control experts. At this time, based on this guidance, universal masking is no longer medically necessarily [sic] to protect patients from COVID-19,” said Michael Morrison, the hospital’s senior director of communications

The Massachusetts Public Health Association and Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugees Advocacy Coalition had also warned against lifting the mandate.

“Returning to the pre-pandemic status quo, however, ignores important lessons learned and potentially leaves the Commonwealth open to the ravages of the next large-scale public health crisis,” said Oami Amarasingham, deputy director of MPHA.

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Boston, MA

O’shae Brissett, part of Boston Celtics championship, reportedly signs with Long Island Nets

Published

8 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

O’shae Brissett, part of Boston Celtics championship, reportedly signs with Long Island Nets

O’shae Brissett, who won a championship with the Boston Celtics in June but hasn’t played professionally since, has reportedly signed an NBA G-League level contract with the Brooklyn Nets G League team, the Long Island Nets.

Bobby Manning was first with the news Friday morning…

Sources tell me Oshae Brissett signed a G-League contract with the Long Island Nets
— Bobby Manning (@RealBobManning) January 17, 2025

The 6’7” 26-year-old Brissett, a defensive specialist, will join Long Island having last played for the Boston Celtics as a part of the NBA Championship squad last year.

In his defining moment of the title run, Brissett was inserted as a small ball center by Boston coach Joe Mazzulla in Game 2 of the Celtics-Pacers conference title series. It was his first playoff minutes, but he played a critical role defensively, picking up three steals and finishing a +15 in his 12 minutes on the court.

“Just his presence, his energy, his athleticism,” Mazzulla said after that game. “Just gave us, I think he had a dunk, got a steal, got us out in transition with a couple [of] rebounds. So just, he plays with such a high level of intensity and energy. It’s big for us.”

In his 55 games with the Celtics in the 2023-24 season, Brissett started just one and played roughly 11.5 minutes per game. He averaged 3.7 points per game, 2.9 rebounds, and 0.8 assists. He shot 44.4% from the field, 27.3% from beyond the arc. He adds yet another NBA veteran presence to the young Long Island Nets team with .

Brissett played three years with the Indiana Pacers, his best year coming in 2021-22 when he played 67 games, 25 starts, averaging 9.1 points and 5.3 rebounds.

However, he hasn’t played since the NBA Finals. Brissett, who turned 26 years old in June, declined a $2.5 million dollar player option with Boston at the end of June. He hoped that he could get more by testing the free-agent market. Similarly, the Toronto native dropped out of the Canadian national team, coached by Jordi Fernandez, to focus his free agency. However, offers or at least offers he liked never materialized and he remained a free agent until Friday.

Brissett’s rebounding and size will give Long Island some added depth, and in Long Island’s case, a potential starter. Brissett always intended to pursue a return to the NBA, and his signing with the Long Island Nets is a first step to getting back to that dream.

Brissett also re-unites with Kendall Brown who had been his Indiana Pacers teammate two years ago.

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Boston, MA

Magic Look to Bounce Back With More Energy at Celtics

Published

16 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

Magic Look to Bounce Back With More Energy at Celtics

BOSTON – Over two weeks ago, after the Orlando Magic’s latest rally fell short in a loss to the Detroit Pistons, fourth-year guard Jalen Suggs called out a worrying trend among his team in hopes of nipping it in the bud.

“We’re putting ourselves in these holes and spotting teams leads, then having to fight, scratch, claw just to get back in the game and give ourselves a chance,” Suggs said on New Year’s Day.

The Magic had developed a resilience that meant they were never out of games, no matter the score. Complimentary, energy-filled basketball helped Orlando do the fighting, scratching and clawing to get back into those games.

Did it always result in a victory? Not quite. But the relentless attitude and constant effort – especially for a team so handicapped by its shrinking list of healthy players – was commendable, and has been embedded in the Magic’s DNA.

In the rare occasions when it doesn’t show face, though, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley says it’s “glaring.” That was the case when the Milwaukee Bucks delivered a 29-point shellacking to Orlando, marking the most lopsided loss for the Magic this year.

“There was an energy and effort issue,” said Mosley postgame.

Wendell Carter Jr. would later say his team was “out-physicaled” and made life too easy for their opponent.

Then, in the locker room, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope told reporters Orlando got its “a– whooped,” and Paolo Banchero told reporters, “[A]s a group top to bottom, we’ve got to be more ready to play. We’re down a lot of bodies, but we can’t make excuses and we’ve just got to come out and play for each other.”

To Banchero’s point, the Magic’s 124 missed games from players due to injury or illness haven’t been a catch-all, safety-net excuse when the team is struggling. Instead, their aforementioned resilience built an identity that helped them generate results throughout the entire first half of the season, regardless of available contributors.

It justifies Mosley’s claims that the lackluster performance vs. the Bucks “wasn’t Orlando Magic basketball. Not even close.” Because although that was the case in Game 42, through the first 41 games, it wasn’t.

“It’s something that you can learn from, and you have to be able to bounce back, which this group has always done,” Mosley said.

With a national audience watching along, Orlando (0-4 in national TV games this season) pays its only visit to TD Garden Friday evening, squaring off with the defending champion Boston Celtics for the second of three matchups this season. The Magic host the 18-time champs once more in April to close the Kia Center’s regular season slate.

Boston has dropped three of their last five outings, including an uncharacteristic loss to the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday night in Scotiabank Arena. The Celtics were without Jayson Tatum due to a last-minute spat with an illness in the Magic’s Dec. 23 home win, but Orlando was shorthanded as well. Of their top four scorers, only Suggs was available.

“We beat them last time at home, so I’m sure they haven’t forgot that,” Paolo Banchero said in Orlando’s locker room Wednesday. “They have a hell of a home atmosphere [and] home crowd, so they’ll be ready to play in front of their fans.”

Heading into Friday’s tilt, where both teams are eager to wipe the slate clean from their mid-week malaise, Boston reports a clean bill of health. Now, only Banchero is available of the Magic’s top scorers, and other key reserves are unavailable as well.

MORE: Magic-Celtics Injury Report

Those who are available, however, say they shouldn’t have any issue getting back to their standard.

“Playing against teams like this is what hoopers get up for,” Anthony Black said. “Definitely getting up for this game. It’s always fun playing against some good hoopers, so I think we’re up and I think we’ll be ready to bring energy come game time.”

“You don’t like losing games, especially when you get your butt kicked,” Mosley said, “but you also have to know you have to bounce back, can’t hang your head, be ready to go and move on the next game.”

Follow ‘Orlando Magic on SI‘ on Facebook and like our page. Follow Magic beat reporter Mason Williams on Twitter/X @mvsonwilliams. Also, bookmark our homepage so you never miss a story.

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Boston, MA

How to Watch Orlando Magic at Boston Celtics on Friday, January 17

Published

23 hours ago

January 17, 2025

Press Room

How to Watch Orlando Magic at Boston Celtics on Friday, January 17

BOSTON – The Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics do battle for the second time this season Friday evening. Tipoff between the two Eastern Conference foes is at 7 p.m. ET from TD Garden.

Each team will be looking to bounce back after uncharacteristic losses. But, one team will be much healthier when attempting to do so.

On the front end of this chilly Northern road trip, the Magic handled by the Milwaukee Bucks by 29 points Wednesday night in Milwaukee. They’ll be without three of their top four scorers and five total rotational players in looking to wash the taste of that contest away.

Boston went north of the border to Toronto and dropped their Wednesday outing by 13 points. The Celtics report no injuries ahead of Friday’s bout.

Regarding this season’s series, Orlando (23-19) took the first matchup over Boston (28-12). Friday’s nationally televised matchup is the second of three this year between the two teams.

Who: Orlando Magic (23-19, 5th in East) at Boston Celtics (28-12, 2nd in East)
What: NBA Regular Season Game
When: Friday, January 17, 7 p.m. ET
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
TV: ESPN, FanDuel Sports Network Florida, NBCS Boston
Radio: 96.9 The Game, Orlando Magic Audio Network, SiriusXM
Point Spread: Milwaukee -6
Last Meeting: Orlando 108, Boston 104 on 12/23/24

Orlando Magic

Boston Celtics

Jamahl Mosley, Orlando Magic: Mosley tipped off his fourth NBA season as a head coach this season, all of which having come with the Magic. He’s 126-162 in the regular season all-time. Before Mosley was named the head coach of the Magic, he was an assistant with Dallas, Cleveland, and Denver. He’s a Colorado alum, and played four years of professional basketball in Mexico, Australia, Finland and South Korea.

Joe Mazzulla, Boston Celtics: Mazzulla, 36 years old, mans the sidelines for his third season as the Celtics’ coach this year. In each of his first two seasons, Boston finished atop the Eastern Conference. They hoisted the Larry O’Brien trophy a historic 18th time this past June after his team cruised through the playoffs in just 19 games (16-3). Prior to taking over as head coach, the former West Virginia Mountaineer was an assistant on the Celtics bench for three seasons. He’s regarded as one of the brightest, young polarizing minds in the game. today

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