SOMERVILLE, Mass. — The governor has added grocery market employees to the list of essential workers who can be tested for COVID-19. 

 

The free and priority and testing sites have been set up for first-responders at the Big E in West Springfield and Gillette Stadium in Foxborough. 

 

Gov. Charlie Baker on Saturday, speaking at the N95 mask cleaning center set up in Somerville, said men and women who provide critical access to food can ask to be tested.

 

"Someone wants to get tested, you can make an appointment in advance with your suit by your supervisor or your manager, and you do not need to be symptomatic to be tested," he said.

 

The governor did not speak to how grocery workers -- who are often on the low end of the employment scale -- would be able to travel the hour and half or so to Springfield for testing for the novel coronavirus.

 

"I also authorized the activation of an additional 3,000 Massachusetts National Guard military personnel to support our COVID-19 response if necessary," he said. "This order raises the total authorization of up to 5,000 members statewide who may be tasked with supporting requests from state agencies for equipment, logistics, warehousing and related duties."

 

The governor said procuring personal protective equipment continues to be a challenge and the reason he was in Somerville, where the Battelle mask cleaning mobile station was set up. 

 

"This remains one of the biggest challenges, but solutions like the one we're visiting here today will help us aggressively use every means necessary to make sure people have the gear, they need," Baker said. "We've found creative ways to track down more and more PPE, and we'll continue doing so in order to get more to the people that are battling this disease head on."

 

The Battelle facility can decontaminate up to 80,000 masks per day once fully operational. The state recently brought in 1 million N95 masks with the aid of the New England Patriots. 

 

"The machine is well on its way to being able to decontaminate more and more masks in the next week,"he said. "That will be available to any hospital and first responder system in the commonwealth."

 

The state has also received another 100 ventilators and has been told it will receive another 200 from the Strategic National Stockpile, in addition to the 100 it first received. It's a far cry from the 1,400 requested but Baker was confident the smaller amount would come through, with the caveat no orders are sure until they're in hand. 

 

"But I do believe that 200 additional ventilators are coming. The message we got from the feds was, we would be receiving ventilators on an incremental basis," he said. "So far they're living up to that, you know they gave us 100, they gave us another hundred, they've committed another 200, we're obviously going to continue to pursue the full thousand that we believe we need and we're also pursuing a variety of private sector channels that I believe remain promising as well."

 

Other actions recently in relation to the pandemic was the canceling of Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System testing, which schools had been preparing for at the time COVID-19 hit. 

 

The administration also put out guidelines encouraging everyone to wear masks in situations where social distancing is difficult or not applicable. A face covering may include anything that covers your nose and mouth, including a mask, scarf or bandana. Health-care workers are advised to use FDA-approved materials. 

 

Cloth masks should not be worn by young children under the age of 2, persons with difficulty breathing, or those who unable to remove the mask without assistance. More information can be found here.

 

The state is also limiting access to parks, beaches and parkways to ensure proper distance between people. 

 

"There's a reason why we've taken these draconian measures, with respect to essential businesses, there are reasons why we've taken these measures with respect to stay at home, and why we've been so aggressive about encouraging people to not go out unless you have to go out," the governor said. "We all get the fact that the economic impact of these decisions is profound ... when you're dealing with something that is contagious as this particular virus, and is deadly for certain populations that this particular virus, you have got to understand and recognize the role you can play in protecting not just yourself but the other people you come in contact with."