As state officials roll back coronavirus-driven rules and offer relief through small-business relief grants, Greater Boston restaurants continue to struggle to.
9:30 p.m. business curfew lifted by Gov. Baker; capacity limits to increase in two weeks
Colin A. Young
State House News Service
BOSTON Citing improvements to COVID-19 metrics since the start of the year, Gov. Charlie Baker announced Thursday that he will lift the 9:30 p.m. curfew that he imposed in November on restaurants and other businesses, effective Monday.
The post-December holiday season spike in COVID-19 activity was not as severe as the surge that followed Thanksgiving, the governor said, and the 30% drop in the positivity rate, 30% drop in new cases and 10% drop in hospitalizations that have materialized since Jan. 1 suggest it is time to begin easing up on some restrictions.
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BOSTON The Baker-Polito administration announced $37.4 million in awards to 638 additional small businesses in a fourth round of grants through the COVID-19 Small Business Grant Program administered by the Massachusetts Growth Capital Corp. Restaurants, bars, and retail stores, which have been especially impacted during the pandemic, are among the key industries to lead this round.
To date, the state has awarded more than $232 million in direct financial support to 4,757 small businesses. This funding has been made available through a $668 million business relief fund set up in December, as well as $50.8 million for small and diverse businesses included in the economic-recovery package announced in October.