For the second straight day, Massachusetts officials on Friday announced another 10 deaths attributable to COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. That brings the death toll in the state to 35.
Three of the newly reported dead were from western Massachusetts, according to the state: a man in his 60s from Berkshire County; a woman in her 90s, also from Berkshire County; and a Franklin County woman in her 90s.
Overall, 3,240 Massachusetts residents have now tested positive for the disease, 823 more than were reported Thursday.
Connecticut reported six new deaths associated with the virus. Overall, the state has identified 27 fatalities. In total, 1,291 patients in Connecticut have tested positive for COVID-19, an increase of nearly 300 from Thursday.
Vermont's death total increased by one on Friday, to 10. The state reported 184 cases, up from 158 Thursday.
New Hampshire reported its second death on Friday, with a total of 187 laboratory-confirmed cases.
Maine on Friday announced its first death attributable to COVID-19, a man in his 80s from Cumberland County. Overall, the state has reported 168 cases, up from the 155 reported on Thursday.
Rhode Island reported 38 new cases on Friday, totaling 203, and no associated deaths.
Those numbers include "presumptive positive cases" identified by state and private labs, as well as cases confirmed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Officials have said the numbers will continue to rise as testing capacity in the region expands. They've also said the data are incomplete, as not all patients with symptoms associated with the disease are being tested.
Connecticut to decrease COVID-19 testing
Connecticut's governor said the state plans to decrease testing for the new coronavirus, giving priority to the very sick, health care workers and front-line responders.
Ned Lamont said the state will instead rely on people self-diagnosing and self-quarantining for 14 days if they have any symptoms. With the scarcity of supplies, Lamont said the state needs its nurses to concentrate on treating the very sick.
Lamont also urged New Yorkers and others from out of state to stay home and avoid traveling to Connecticut unless absolutely necessary.
Massachusetts governor to out-of-staters: ‘Do not travel to our communities’
With one of the nation's hottest coronavirus zones just 200 miles south on Interstate 95 in New York City, Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday urged people who are thinking about traveling to Massachusetts to reconsider, and said that anyone arriving to the state through an airport or train station will be advised to self-quarantine for 14 days.
"We're asking that folks considering travel to Massachusetts for whatever reason, do not travel to our communities, especially if you have symptoms," Baker said.
The new guidance from Baker follows a recommendation from the White House coronavirus task force this week that anyone who has left New York or who has passed through New York City on their way somewhere else self-quarantine for two weeks.
Baker on Friday also shot down President Donald Trump's suggestion that he would like to see the economy of the United States reopen for business by Easter Sunday, which arrives in two weeks on April 12.
"Yeah, no. We're not going to be up and running by Easter. No," the governor said to end his daily briefing.
Springfield, Mass., requests National Guard help police department
The city of Springfield, Mass., is asking the state to send 75 members of the National Guard, as its police department is stretched thin because of COVID-19. Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood said on Friday that 20 officers are out because of the virus, including a few on self-quarantine because they were in contact with someone who is sick, and one who tested positive.
“He is doing fine. He is recovering at home,” Clapprood said. “And I have some officers who have other medical issues and their doctors are advising them to stay home at this time.”
Clapprood said she has enough officers to respond to calls now, but wants to be proactive in requesting help from the Guard.
“It’s not something that I need today, but it could be something I need a week or 10 days from now,” she said.
A spokesman said the city made the request Friday to state emergency management officials, and is “awaiting confirmation” and a timeline for when the Guard could be deployed to assist Springfield.
New Hampshire orders nonessential businesses to close
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu is ordering all nonessential businesses to close their in-person operations and is telling residents to stay home to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Gas stations, grocery stores, liquor stores and restaurants are exempt from the order. Health care facilities and manufacturers also can stay open, and construction will be allowed to continue.
Sununu had been under pressure from Democrats to take tougher action. He was careful to say the order was only an effort to align policies put in place by nearby states like Massachusetts.
He's also closing state beaches on the seacoast.
Food pantries in Northampton and Goshen, Mass., now closed
The Northampton Survival Center, which gives out free groceries, has closed for at least two weeks, along with the Hilltown Pantry in Goshen. The organization’s website said the decision was made for “health and safety-related circumstances” as a result of the COVID-19 crisis. The center did not elaborate and its director did not return requests for comment.
Christina Maxwell is program director for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts, which provides food to many area pantries. Maxwell said she expects other pantries may also close, as more staff go into quarantine.
"We are having conversations about ways that we may be able to address some of these gaps," Maxwell said. "We are ordering and purchasing more food. We are expecting some...emergency meal kits to be delivered. We just need to kind of figure out how to make that happen."
In the meantime, Maxwell suggested Northampton residents in need of food visit food pantries in Easthampton or Greenfield.
ACLU questions constitutionality of stopping New York cars
The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island is questioning the constitutionality of Gov. Gina Raimondo's directive allowing state police to stop vehicles with New York license plates to collect information from drivers and passengers in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
The Democratic governor on Thursday called the measure extreme, but pointed out that the New York City area is the epicenter of the disease in the U.S.
The ACLU says while Raimondo has the authority to suspend some state laws and regulations to address a medical emergency, she cannot suspend the Constitution, and her order violates the Fourth Amendment.
NEPR’s Heather Brandon, Karen Brown and Sam Hudzik contributed to this report, which includes information from State House News Service, and The Associated Press.
