Chris Lisinski
State House News Service

Massachusetts will move into the third phase of its gradual plan to revive public activity in most of the state on Monday, allowing gyms, museums, movie theaters, and more to resume some operations even as COVID cases surge in other parts of the country.

The Baker administration’s decision shifts Massachusetts toward the leading edge of states on the path to reopening, pushing forward despite peers pumping the brakes on their own progress due to concerns about massive outbreaks in the south and west.

Citing positive trends in public health data, Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday that he is confident the state can loosen restrictions without prompting an infection rebound because bars and nightclubs will remain closed and because residents and businesses continue to abide by safety precautions.

“The success is due in no small part to the vigilance and dedication that has been shown by the people of Massachusetts, but we should not and cannot slow down or step back now,” Baker said. “We know that COVID-19 won’t be taking any time off this summer, and we need to maintain vigilance if we wish to continue to move forward.”

Phase 3 will consist of two smaller steps, though administration officials have not yet announced when the second portion will start. The loosened restrictions in the first step will take effect in Boston on July 13, one week after every other community in Massachusetts.

Under the first step, movie theaters, museums, fitness centers and some indoor recreation facilities that have all been closed since mid-March will be allowed to reopen so long as they follow industry-specific protocols.

Most will face capacity limits and mandatory cleaning requirements. Indoor and outdoor events such as weddings or parties will not be allowed to open bars or dance floors.

“Going to the gym may not look the same the way it did before the pandemic, but we hope these new protocols will allow more residents to return to exercise and fitness and get back into those routines that they were accustomed to,” Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said at a press conference alongside Baker and other cabinet officials.

The administration will also update restrictions on gatherings to allow more people to congregate, starting Monday statewide and July 13 in Boston.

Indoor gatherings will be capped at eight people per 1,000 square feet with a maximum of 25, while outdoor enclosed gatherings will be limited to 25 percent of permitted capacity with a maximum of 100. Caps do not apply to unenclosed outdoor events, such as backyard parties or park visits.

Baker said the next step along the path toward the new normal will bring back “some bigger players that will certainly draw more people into indoor settings,” where public health experts say the risk of COVID transmission is far greater than outdoors. That underlines the importance of individual caution, he said.

Phase 3 will last longer than the other phases, and Baker reiterated Thursday that the fourth and final section will not begin until treatment or a vaccine for COVID-19 is available.

Professional sports teams will be permitted to host games without spectators in Massachusetts as part of Phase 3, though Baker said he is “not prepared to sign off” on any plans to bring fans back.

Health care providers will also face a changed landscape in the next phase. Some group treatment programs and day programs that had not been allowed for months can resume, such as community-based day services for adults with intellectual and cognitive disabilities and substance abuse services.

MassHealth telehealth service will continue through the end of 2020, Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders said Thursday, and the administration continues to encourage remote medical appointments “whenever feasible.”

State officials will also update visitation guidelines for the next step in the reopening plan. Starting Monday, 24/7 congregate care programs will need to follow less strict distancing requirements, while long-term care facilities including nursing homes and assisted living residences can start allowing minimum visits of 30 minutes rather than 10 minutes.

“We know that some of the measures that were put into place to keep residents safe, including restricting visitations, have been incredibly difficult on family members and friends who wanted to visit loved ones,” Sudders said. “I’m certain that this is welcome news ahead of the holiday weekend.”

Baker, who said he had received “heartbreaking” letters from residents who could not visit their family in long-term care facilities, said he planned to visit his father in such a home during the holiday weekend.

The governor had initially said he wanted to track two weeks of data from indoor dining before deciding when to start the next phase, but Thursday’s announcement comes only 10 days after dine-in restaurant service resumed.

Asked if he had enough of a sense of indoor dining’s impact, Baker said the “overwhelming response we’ve gotten from the folks we’ve talked to is that people are abiding by the rules.”

State leaders are moving forward with confidence, buoyed by a massive drop in the average positive test rate to near or below 2 percent and a decline in the number of hospitalized COVID patients 79 percent below the mid-April surge period. Those indicators come alongside a death toll above 8,000.

Elsewhere in the United States, though, the virus is reaching new heights. Driven by rapidly growing outbreaks in Florida, Texas, Arizona and other southern and western states, the country has observed a higher average of new daily cases over the past week-plus than ever before, even as deaths continue to slowly decelerate.

“We find ourselves in an important place in time as a Commonwealth as we start to see what a new normal will look like, even while other states are sadly struggling to bring the virus under control,” Housing and Economic Development Secretary Mike Kennealy said at Thursday’s press conference.

Most northeast states, which were home to devastating outbreaks in the spring, are on positive trends similar to that in Massachusetts. In some, leaders have responded to the worsening national infection numbers by slowing some reopening progress.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said this week he would pause plans to resume indoor dining due to concerns about the rest of the country, though on Thursday he increased allowable capacity for indoor gatherings to a maximum of 100 and for outdoor gatherings to a maximum of 500, both far above what Baker will allow.

Baker told reporters his administration’s plan has undergone rigorous review from medical experts, and he said he does not think Massachusetts will experience a similar surge as other states because of how the reopening is structured and because residents have remained committed to precautions.

Bars and nightclubs will not open until Phase 4, which Baker described as a key step to ensure safety.

“The primary driver of much of the significant increase in positive tests in a number of states has been the reopening of bars and nightclubs,” Baker said. “Obviously bars and nightclubs are sitting in Phase 4 under our guidance, and there was a reason for that: as difficult as it is for the people who operate and work in those institutions, we could not figure out a way to do that safely.”

Business groups reacted to the announcement with mixed feelings, with the National Federation of Independent Business of Massachusetts saying the good news comes amid “many shops and restaurants closing their doors permanently.”

The right-leaning Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, which has been one of Baker’s most vocal critics during the state of emergency, said the next stage of reopening “is the best gift Massachusetts taxpayers can give our country on its Birthday.”

“With over 100 days being locked down, and Phase 3 beginning on Monday, the Governor is finally putting his faith in the people of Massachusetts to make the best decisions for themselves,” MFA spokesman Paul Craney said in a press release. “Every day that goes by, it’s clearer that this lockdown is yesterday’s news and it should never happen again.”

Written by Steven Froias, contributing writer.

Almost 10 years ago, an image of Jesus appeared on the wall of a building just north of Lunds Corner in the North End.

It was the artwork of Mark “Maki” Carvalho – and it caused a sensation at the time.

This past Easter 2020, appropriately enough, Jesus re-appeared.

In a mask.

“Because His arms are out-stretched about six feet, I felt it said something about what we were going through with social distancing,” says Carvalho – most commonly known simply as Maki, and also Boston Maki though he is all New Bedford through and through.

Though he is an educator by day-time profession, Maki is best known as a street artist. As such, his work is found throughout the City of New Bedford, reflected in colorful images of persons as diverse as Tom Brady, Gregory Peck as Captain Ahab, and Neptune. (See and buy his work at BostonMaki.com.)

So it’s no surprise that even during a pandemic shutdown, the artist would steal surreptitiously into the night and continue to ply his trade throughout the city.

But what may come as more of a surprise is – even as stay-at-home orders kept the vast majority of residents indoors and most businesses locked up tight – Maki received and executed a commission.

He explains that owner Adam Katz of the soon-to-be-opened Play Arcade engaged him to create a series of murals for the new space, which will be a bar and retro arcade in the former Slainte Irish Pub on lower Union Street.

After conducting online classes during the day, Maki went to work in the space at night and first stenciled then painted wall after colorful wall of familiar superheroes to enhance the vintage appeal of the enterprise.

For the artist, it not only represented a commission, but also a chance to mix things up. He says he adopted an entirely new painting technique using stencils that he first created in his studio at Kilburn Mill at Clarks Cove in the south end. Later, they were applied directly to the wall of the imminent retro arcade.

“It was fun to work in a new way,” he says, and the work was a great diversion from pandemic problems. “Things will get back to normal – and it’s great that Adam’s forging ahead with this project and taking advantage of the time to get it ready for its eventual opening.” (Watch for it via PlayArcadeNB.com).

At his home base in Kilburn Mill, things are also moving forward. A huge and diverse building that’s been an exciting center of creative innovation for the past few years, not only Maki but many other artists, small businesses and special event spaces are in residence right by gorgeous Clark’s Cove at 127 W. Rodney French Boulevard.

Though Maki says it was quiet during the mandatory shutdown, things were still happening beneath the surface in preparation for reopening.

In fact, Peter Andrade, one of the managers at Kilburn Mill at Clarks Cove, says the building even welcomed a new artist into a studio space during the shutdown. And, the monumental renovation of the half-million square foot building continued, with essential construction still allowed under state guidelines.

The public can experience this work first-hand as the long-planned first-floor cafe and eatery, DōCo (doughconb.com) has recently opened its doors. During the shutdown, the eatery was building a fan-base for its amazing baked goods by participating in the New Bedford Farmers Market (see offerings at CoastalFoodshed.org).

“Executive Chef Alia Asher is a visual artist herself,” Andrade says. “You eat with your eyes first – and she understands how to create an attractive plate.”

Hailing from Kingston, Jamaica, Chef Asher grew up on her family’s farm and completed her formal culinary training at Johnson & Wales University in North Miami Florida, with stints at some of Ft. Lauderdale’s high end restaurants. Her passion for food and cooking things that excite and satisfy her soul brought her to New England.

“She was not originally trained as a pastry chef or baker, but her talent and creativity has allowed her to develop and play with these skills as we prepared to open Dough Company at Kilburn Mill,” says co-owner Jillian Cotter. “One of our most popular items, the Muffnut – a half donut, half muffin top baked good – was something that she completely came up with on her own, and the idea has really taken off.”

Kilburn Mill at Clarks Cove catapulted to fame when it hosted the New Bedford Whaling Museum’s restoration of “Grand Panorama of a Whaling Voyage ‘Round The World” during the summer of 2018.

Since that signature event, it’s been on a renovation winning streak adding a luscious outdoor courtyard and stunning rooftop deck overlooking Clarks Cove and the city’s Hurricane Barrier and West Municipal Beach.

Under new ownership for the past several years, it’s kept long-term tenants like the Judith Klein Art Gallery & Studio, many individual artist studios, and its famed Antiques Center, while also building for the future.

That future will still arrive, post-pandemic, and Kilburn Mill, its tenants and artists like Maki and Chef Asher are even now quietly helping to usher it in…venturing stealthily out and about as a silent army battling back to the future.

As Peter Andrade says, “This, too, shall pass….”

But #NBCreative is being built to last.

_______________________________________________________________________

About New Bedford Creative
The New Bedford Creative Consortium is the leadership group whose purpose is overseeing the execution of the citywide strategic Arts and Culture Plan entitled New Bedford Creative: our art, our culture, our future. The Arts and Culture Plan is a huge step forward in building a thriving creative ecosystem in our city, and these are the people dedicated to implementing it. This volunteer group is facilitated by the Creative Strategist, meets quarterly and is divided into three Squads: Public Art + Facilities, Placemaking + Community, and Fundraising + Distribution.

Yesterday, the Baker-Polito Administration announced new COVID-19 public health guidelines on travel and transportation.

Effective Wednesday, July 1, all travelers arriving to Massachusetts, including residents returning home, are instructed to self-quarantine for 14-days. This guidance does not apply to travelers from Rhode Island, Connecticut, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, New York, or New Jersey. Additionally, workers designated by the federal government as essential critical infrastructure workers are also exempt from this directive.

Travelers who are displaying symptoms of COVID-19 are instructed to not travel to Massachusetts.

All visitors and residents of Massachusetts are also reminded that the use of masks or face coverings in public places where individuals cannot socially distance from others remains required.

These new guidelines replace previously announced Massachusetts travel guidance. For national travel information, please visit www.travel.state.gov.

Colin A. Young
State House News Service

If you live in Boston or any of more than three dozen other eastern Massachusetts communities, you could be sending vital data to public health officials with each flush of your toilet.

Through the end of the year, the sewage arriving at the Deer Island Treatment Plant will be tested three times a week for signs of the coronavirus, meant to serve as an early warning system for spikes in COVID-19 activity in communities that account for more than 40 percent of the state’s cases.

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority board last week approved a six-month, $200,000 contract with Biobot Analytics, a startup founded by MIT graduates and faculty, to collect and test samples of wastewater arriving at two different intakes at Deer Island and to conduct rapid analysis for signs of the virus that causes COVID-19.

“Analysis of wastewater for the genetic signal (viral RNA) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 is proving to be a cost effective approach to providing population level screening for outbreaks of COVID-19,” MWRA Executive Director Fred Laskey wrote to the board in a memo.

Biobot Analytics was the first company to demonstrate in the United States that it is possible to gauge levels of coronavirus activity by screening raw sewage. The company looked at samples provided by the MWRA and determined that signs of the virus “were significantly higher than expected based on clinically confirmed cases in Massachusetts as of March 25.”

Laskey said Biobot eventually provided pro bono services to more than 400 treatment facilities in 43 states, and requested additional wastewater samples from MWRA. Those samples, he said, were used to establish a baseline for the communities that send wastewater to Deer Island from January through May.

“This data series tracks well with and precedes the reports of new clinically established cases by about seven days,” Laskey wrote.

In other words, signs that more people are becoming infected with COVID-19 and that the virus is spreading more show up in wastewater about a week before testing sites and hospitals start seeing increases in sick patients.

The partnership between MWRA and Biobot that began in early March has continued, and the authority said in a presentation to board members last week that raw data from Deer Island collected the week of June 15 “shows continued downward trend” in the prevalence of the coronavirus.

Authority officials noted that those samples were collected after Phase 2 of the state’s reopening began and after some of the large demonstrations that were held in Boston and other communities.

“This pilot program will take this approach a step further by continuing the regular analyses of the wastewater and trending of the signal from the MWRA service area for the remainder of calendar 2020,” Laskey wrote. “MWRA will likely use the lessons learned from this pilot program to establish a long-term program through a competitive bid process for 2021 and beyond for as long as COVID-19 continues to be a public health threat. We will also use the results to evaluate a longer term program that could inform additional public health initiatives or concerns.”

Katie Lannan
State House News Service

The state’s death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 8,000 on Friday, with the report of 50 new fatalities. Thirty-nine of those deaths were among patients with test-confirmed cases of COVID-19, while the other 11 were from probable cases, which the Department of Public Health defines as someone with a positive antibody test who either had COVID-like symptoms or experienced likely exposure to the respiratory disease.

Of the 8,013 people in Massachusetts whose deaths are attributed to COVID-19, the bulk — 4,996 people — were aged 80 and older. Sixty-three percent of the deaths, or 5,051, were reported in long-term care facilities.

The state’s total caseload now stands at 108,070, including 103,071 test-confirmed cases and 4,999 probable cases indicated by antibody tests. Friday’s report included 149 new confirmed cases, from 8,545 viral tests, and 84 new probable cases.

The seven-day weighted average of the positive molecular test has been below 2 percent since June 20, according to the Department of Public Health, but ticked up slightly on June 25, to 1.9 percent from 1.8 percent the previous two days. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 dropped by 31 in Friday’s report, to 791, with 156 patients in intensive care units and 99 intubated. Two of the state’s hospitals were using their surge capacity, down from four the previous day.

According to New Bedford’s Cheif Financial Officer Ari Sky, the City of New Bedford has incurred $1.5 million in COVID-19 expenses through June 5, 2020. In his note to City Councilor Linda Morad, he stated the cost has risen to $150,000 a week and expects the costs to be around $2 million in total. Sky also expects most of the expenses to be reimbursed by FEMA and the CARES Act.

The largest expenses were $225,000 for 95,000 fabric masks purchased from Joseph Abboud as part of the MaskNB program and the purchase of 56 Dell Computers at 56,962.80.

Here is the letter to Councilor Morad and a detailed breakdown of expenses:

06.25.2020_COMMUNICATION-EMAIL_-_CURRENT_COVID19_EXPENSES

06.25.2020_COVID-19_EXPENSES_SPREADSHEET

Michael P. Norton
State House News Service

The number of African Americans donating blood with the Red Cross has dropped by more than half since the COVID-19 outbreak began in mid-March, and African American donors are critically needed to help patients battling sickle cell disease, according to the Massachusetts Health Council.

The cancellation of blood drives at businesses, churches, and schools, along with the disproportionately high COVID-19 infection rate among African Americans, is contributing to the lower donor turnout, which is concerning since African American donors are vital for patients with rare blood types, like sickle cell disease, who depend on blood that must be matched very closely to reduce the risk of complications.

The American Red Cross, with New England Patriots players Devin and Jason McCourty, the Rev. Liz Walker of Roxbury Presbyterian Church, Clappazzola Partners, and other community groups, plans a five-hour blood drive starting at 10 a.m. on June 30 at Northeastern University’s Matthews Arena, according to the council. “Sickle cell has affected our family and watching our family fight inspired us to get involved,” Devin McCourty said.

According to the council, healthy individuals who are feeling well may also make an appointment to donate by downloading the free Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting RedCrossBlood.org, calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) or enabling the Blood Donor Skill on any Alexa Echo device.

“Blood transfusion helps patients with sickle cell disease – the most common genetic blood disease in the U.S. – and African American donors play an important role in their treatment,” said Dr. Yvette Miller, executive medical officer, Red Cross Blood Services. “We want to assure donors that their health and safety is a top priority for the Red Cross. By adding safeguards to our drives in response to this coronavirus, we hope individuals will roll up a sleeve to help those counting on their donation.”

Katie Lannan
State House News Service

Massachusetts schools this fall will be required to develop hybrid learning plans that teach students in-person and remotely on alternating schedules, under guidance that state education officials are releasing Thursday.

In order to reopen after a spring where schools abruptly closed their classrooms and shifted to remote learning as COVID-19 cases mounted, school officials will have to develop three models: one for entirely remote learning, one for a hybrid of remote and in-person instruction, and an in-person model that complies with new health and safety protocols. Those in-person protocols will require the reconfiguration of classrooms, schedules, and other elements of the traditional school day, according to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

All adults and students in second grade and above will be required to wear masks or face coverings, and time for “mask breaks” will be built in throughout the day. Exceptions will be made for medical conditions and other health and safety factors, and students in kindergarten and first grade “should be encouraged” to wear masks or face shields.

Classrooms will be re-arranged to accommodate physical distancing — the department wants schools to aim for a distance of six feet when feasible, with three feet the minimum distance allowed. There will not be a prescribed maximum on group sizes, as long as the distancing requirements are met. Schools will be asked to use libraries, auditoriums and cafeterias for additional classroom space.

Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeff Riley published guidance earlier this month indicating that masks, smaller class sizes and frequent hand-washing would be part of a return to school. The sudden shift to remote learning has underscored gaps in technology and access, and presented new challenges for working parents. A return to physical school buildings and the associated public health precautions will likely bring new costs to schools that are already bracing to receive less state aid than they’d anticipated due to the economic downturn. Riley, who this spring convened a working group to help develop a reentry plan, is scheduled to join Gov. Baker at a noontime State House press conference, along with Education Secretary James Peyser and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito.

New Bedford health officials reported one new COVID-19 case on Wednesday and zero cases on Tuesday raising the total COVID-19 count in New Bedford to 2,123. Three new COVID-19 related death was reported on Tuesday bringing the death count to 108 in the city.

Cases overall in Fall River actually decreased by 2, according to the Mayor’s Office, due to address corrections. This makes the total in Fall River stand at 1,566. Full details here.

Courthouses in Massachusetts will reopen to the public on July 13 for limited purposes, with the courts continuing to conduct most business virtually. Full details here.

Matt Murphy
State House News Service

The gradual reopening of the economy in Massachusetts has led to employees feeling more stable in their jobs and financial situations over the past month, according to a new Suffolk University poll for WGBH News, the State House News Service, The Boston Globe, and MassLive.

But residents continue to harbor anxiety over venturing back out to engage in what used to be mundane activities, like eating at a restaurant or taking the subway to see a baseball game. And parents are deeply divided over whether they think it’s safe to send their children back to daycare or school, according to the poll.

The pandemic has also hit communities of color particularly hard financially, according to the survey, with Hispanic residents far more likely than white, Black and Asian workers to report diminished income from the coronavirus outbreak, and workers with less education and lower incomes before the pandemic reporting a greater impact from COVID-19.

The WGBH News/SHNS/Suffolk survey of 500 Massachusetts residents was conducted June 18-21 with live callers on cellphones and landlines. It has a margin of error of 4.4 percent.

Michael Riccardelli, 31, of Worcester, worked as a cook for faculty, staff and students at Worcester State University when the pandemic hit and the college shut down its campus. While he hopes to return to his job in the fall, he has had to rely on unemployment benefits to scrap by since March, and even those have now been shut off due to confusion over what program he should qualify under.

“A lot of restaurants are hiring now. Everyone’s opening. But the rent’s due at the end of the month,” said Riccardelli, who hopes to find something part-time until the fall.

The worry still being felt across Massachusetts as the rate of new infections, deaths and hospitalizations from COVID-19 decline underscores the challenges of returning to some normalcy, and reviving an economy before a vaccine for the virus becomes available.

Over 27 percent of people said they had either an extremely high level of fear or were living through the most fearful moments of their lives, while another 39.4 percent of people said they had above average fear.

“It’s anxiety inducing,” Riccardelli said. “I want to go out and I want things to be open again. But I have terrible asthma. If I did get it, this would destroy me.”

Forty-eight percent said they were somewhat or very concerned about their personal financial situation or employment, down from 56 percent in late April and early May, while the percent of people not at all concerned rose from 25.8 percent to 34.2 percent.

The number of people reporting that the pandemic had diminished their regular income was also down over nine points to 36.4 percent.

“That tide has been stemmed. It’s still high, but the trend line is going in the right direction,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center, which conducted the poll.

Hispanic workers were far more likely than white, Black and Asian workers to report a loss of income, with 48 percent of Hispanic residents saying they had lost income due to the coronavirus compared to 44 percent of Asian, 39 percent of Blacks and 34 percent of white residents.

Workers who earned less before the pandemic and had attained lower levels of education were also more likely to say they had seen their income diminish compared to workers with more formal education and higher salaries.

“That’s a problem,” Paleologos said. “COVID-19 has become this regressive tax on people because lower income people are hurting the most. People who can sit at home and do Zoom meetings don’t have to be out scraping for their hourly wage.”

As in all polls, smaller subsets of people carry a higher margin of error.

Gov. Charlie Baker’s handling of the pandemic continued to earn him high marks, in this latest survey, with 81 percent approving of his handling of the outbreak, and 74.4 percent approving of his approach to reopening the economy. Support for his handling of the outbreak was just slightly down from 84 percent in early May.

With some criticizing the governor for being too cautious, the Republican’s strongest support was with Democrats and independents, including 82 percent of Democrats and 73 percent of independents who approved of his approach to reopening the economy, compared with only 57 percent of Republicans.

“I absolutely like the way he’s done it. He’s taken his time and doing it the right way. We understand the economy is probably suffering a little for it, but he’s making the right choices. Slow but steady,” said Rachelle Smith, 56, of Brockton, who identified as a Democrat.

The WGBH News/SHNS/Suffolk poll found a vast disconnect between people’s feelings about Massachusetts versus the country, with 71 percent saying the state is on the right track, but only 19.8 percent feeling the same about the country.

As Baker has slowly allowed parts of the economy to reopen for business, he has urged residents not to become complacent about the social distancing and mask-wearing practices that he attributes to Massachusetts’s ability to safely return to some activities.

Yet, the survey suggests that some people are growing more relaxed about needing to stay at home as much as possible and not gathering in groups.

Only 44.2 percent of those polled said they were very strict about social distancing, compared with over 69 percent a little more than a month ago, and 11.4 said they weren’t strict at all. That trend was more evident among younger people, with only 21 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds reporting that they are “very strict” about social distancing, compared with 62 percent of those over 65.

“That just blinks a red light to me, because they could potentially be carriers,” Paleologos said.

Smith works as residential counselor, and while her employment has not been interrupted she’s had to endure daily temperature checks, and has even gone through “lock-ins” for two-week stretches in the group homes to prevent the spread of the virus.

“I’m really, really, really nervous because people are not taking the right precautions. Some people are afraid to say they’re sick. They don’t want to go to the hospital, and don’t have the money for that,” Smith said.

Others are more confident in people taking the necessary precautions to control the spread of the virus. Raul Silva, a civil engineer with the Department of Conservation and Recreation, said he feels precautions like wearing masks and maintaining distance have become ingrained.

“I think folks have gotten used to it. Everyone has a mask at their front door. I think it’s just become more normal to wear a mask,” Silva said.

Even though businesses are reopening, all people aren’t quite comfortable yet with the idea of venturing back out into the world.

With the exception of the nearly 78 percent of people who said they are comfortable with seeing family members and relatives in person (up six points), the reluctance to go out to eat or ride a train has remained largely unchanged over the past month.

Forty-one percent in this most recent survey said they would be comfortable dining at a restaurant, compared to 42 percent in early May, while only 19.2 percent said they’d be comfortable riding a bus, subway or commuter train, up just over one percentage point.

Only 23.4 percent of people said they’d be comfortable attending a sporting event, and 22.8 percent said they’d be alright with the idea of getting on a plane. In fact, the number of people comfortable with the idea of returning to school or the office fell from 58 percent in the last survey to 50.2 percent this month.

“I think it’s going Ok. But there’s still some things I won’t do,” said Barry Ellison, 40, of Hamilton, discussing the reopening. He specifically mentioned eating indoors at a restaurant, which was allowed for the first time in months on Monday.

“Even though they’re reopened at this point, I don’t really feel comfortable doing that,” he said.

The 35- to 44-year-old age group was consistently the most cautious in what they felt comfortable doing, according to the poll.

Ellison worked as a service supervisor at an auto dealership until he was furloughed. He has now been offered his job back, but he will have to work entirely on commission, which was not the case before the pandemic when he was also earning a training wage. “I’m hoping for the best because I don’t have a client base,” he said.

One of the biggest challenges facing Massachusetts and its economy is figuring out how to safely reopen day cares and schools so that children don’t fall behind in their learning and parents can return fully to work.

Forty-five percent of people polled who had school-aged children at home said they’d be comfortable sending their child back to school or day care, compared to 49 percent who said they were not comfortable and 16 percent who were undecided.

Forty-eight percent of those same parents said they thought K-12 schools would be able to reopen in the fall in a way that would keep most kids and adults safe.

The survey asked all residents whether children returning to school was important enough to risk a small number of people contracting the coronavirus as a result in the fall, and 40.6 percent said it was, while 38.2 percent said remote learning was working well enough and returning to the classroom was not worth the risk.

A smaller percent — just 14.4 percent — said the educational harm being done far outweighed the health risks and children should return to school even if a significant number of people become infected as a result.