During a Monday afternoon press conference, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced the death of a second Boston resident who was infected with the novel coronavirus.
"With each tragic death, it is a reminder of the dangerous situation we are living in," he said. "We are going to continue to do everything we can as one community to protect each other and prevent further loss of life."
When asked, the mayor said he did not have further information on the deceased person.
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Walsh urged all residents to continue the practice of social distancing and asked people to stay at home. Earlier in the day, Gov. Charlie Baker announced that all non-essential business would either need to close or set up remote operations.
Walsh also clarified the Department of Public Health's two-week stay-at-home advisory.
"This is not a confinement order," Walsh said. "It's explaining to people that they should stay at home [and] only leave when they need to."
The mayor advised against hoarding food and other products like toilet paper, and said that the city's water supply was safe to drink.
Walsh said that he brought in a team from The McChrystal Group, which is headed by retired Gen. Stanley McChristal, to review and update the city's emergency plans.
"I am not willing to leave anything to chance when it comes to the safety and well-being of our residents," he said. "This is unchartered territory."
Walsh also reviewed protocols regarding the city's homeless populations and announced that a second, twenty-person capacity tent would be set up Tuesday for the screening and separation of potential cases among that group.
The first tent, which has an 80-person capacity, was put up Saturday.
Walsh cautioned that the situation is poised to intensify over the next few weeks.
"I don’t think everyone’s ever experienced basically a complete shutdown of society … in the 20th or 21st century," he said. "These are interesting times and we’ll get through them."
