Updated at 6:49 p.m.

Governor Charlie Baker announced during a Sunday afternoon press conference — his second of the day — that Massachusetts schools would close on Tuesday and not reopen until April 7.

The governor did not order the closure of childcare centers and added that the order does not apply to residential students at special needs schools or group homes. He also announced the easing of regulations on unemployment benefits to help blunt the economic effects of the pandemic.

He added that starting Tuesday, restaurants and bars will only be able to serve take out meals and those who do not already do so will face a streamlined process to be licensed for it.

The announcement came hours after Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced a citywide state of emergency Sunday, including the closure of Boston Public Schools for two weeks starting Tuesday.

Walsh said that two schools will not be open Monday: The Eliot School campuses, in the North End, where one non-student tested positive for Corona virus, and the McKinley School, in the South End, where a non-student is currently being tested for the virus. All other BPS students would be allowed to return to collect there belongings and at-home learning materials.

The move followed statewide and national emergency declarations and allows Walsh to authorize emergency regulations for city employees, schools, businesses and food and drink venues.

Walsh went on to urge the public, especially young people, to take the situation seriously.

“This isn’t about you,” Walsh said. “Keeping our distance is an act of human solidarity right now.”

Among the emergency regulations put in place are new restrictions on bars and restaurants. Bars must now operate at a maximum of fifty percent their normal capacity and all bars and restaurants must close by 11 pm, although they will be permitted to sell takeout meals during their normal business hours.

The mayor said that though schools will be closed, meal services will still be available. Governor Baker said the same would apply to Mass. as a whole.

Walsh said that students who depend on school meals will be able to receive meals in their neighborhoods and that students will receive take-home materials on Monday to work on during the closure.

He also said schools will be working with English Language Learners and special needs students who have individual learning plans.

Walsh said the emergency measures are part of a larger plan to reduce the spread of COVID-19 as much as possible, especially in the coming week.

“What we hear from health experts is that this week is critical for flattening the curve” of spreading infections, he said. “The sooner we tackle this the sooner the city can go back to normal.”

Earlier that day, Baker said he would not order the closure of schools statewide as he was advised such a move may be counterproductive — though he will continue to monitor the situation on the ground.

"If you look around the country, states and municipalities are pursuing all variety of approaches to what to do with respect to schools," he said. "Unless you actually shelter everybody in place when they’re not in school, if everybody’s doing play dates and birthday parties... you may not necessarily achieve the objective you are looking for here, which is the social distancing piece."

Amid an uptick in cases — authorities announced 26 new confirmed instances, bringing the total up to 138 from Saturday — Baker moved to quash rumors that he would issue a shelter in place order Monday.

"I've had community leaders and elected officials all text me or call me over the course of the past few days and say, 'I understand on Monday you're basically going to order everybody to shelter in place for two weeks,'" he said. "We have no plans to do that, although it does help me understand with some of the run on the supermarkets and the other dry goods in general stores would be about.

"But the other thing I would say is that people need to choose their news from trusted sources whether it's www.mass.gov/covid19 or many of the other available trusted news sources that are out there."

With reports from Mark Herz.