The Martha s Vineyard Times
Ag Fair set for August comeback
After its first hiatus since World War II, the season’s signature event is returning the third week of August.
The Ag Fair will be back this summer after a one-year hiatus due to the pandemic. -Gabrielle Mannino
Get ready for skillet tossing, blue ribbons, and carnival games, because the Martha’s Vineyard Agricultural Fair is back.
Wanting to return to a sense of “normal,” the Ag Fair will hold its 159th fair and livestock show from August 19 to 22.
According to a press release from the Agricultural Society, the board discussed health and safety issues to meet local and state guidelines while allowing in-person attendance with limitations.
The Cape Cod Times will start printing weekly COVID-19 updates from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health rather than publish numbers from the department s daily dashboard.
Since the start of the pandemic, the Times has been reporting on daily figures including new, active and probable COVID-19 cases, testing, hospitalizations at Cape and Islands hospitals and deaths in the state and in the region.
The COVID-19 weekly health report, including town figures and trends, will be published on Fridays. The report will also be available online
.
Massachusetts enters next step of COVID reopening phase Monday; amusement parks, ballparks allowed to expand capacity
Posted May 10, 2021
Massachusetts entered the next stage of the state’s reopening plan on Monday.
This reopening follows previous restrictions loosening on March 22, expanding the gathering limits for event venues to 100 people indoors and 150 people outdoors.
In weeks since, COVID-19 cases have continued to decline and vaccinations continue to rise. COVID-19 cases have dropped by 45 percent, hospitalizations have dropped by 23 percent, and deaths have dropped by 69 percent since March 22.
Below are the expanded reopening plans that went into effect on Monday.
First allowed to reopen at 12 percent capacity, now arenas, ballparks and stadiums both indoors and outdoors can increase capacity to 25 percent. This shift comes a day prior to the WooSox Opening Day at Polar Park in Worcester.
Pedestrians, some wearing masks out of concern for the coronavirus, while others go without masks, walk along Boston s fashionable Newbury Street, May 2, 2021.(Steven Senne/AP)
More than 4 million adults in Massachusetts have received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose after steady progress over the weekend, while most measures of the virus s impact continued to improve ahead of another reopening step starting Monday.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported 72,352 vaccine doses administered and a 48,965 increase in full vaccinations on Saturday, followed by 71,663 doses administered and 42,361 additional full vaccinations on Sunday.
In the state s estimate, 3,811,389 residents have received at least one dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine and 222,819 have received the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, representing more than 73% of the roughly 5.5 million adults in Massachusetts. Of those, 2,927,088 about 53% of the adult population are fully vaccinated.