Boston’s Fenway Park, TD Garden reopening with limited capacity

Boston’s pro sports venues, including Fenway Park, TD Garden and Gillette Stadium, will reopen at limited capacity March 22, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) announced Thursday.

The venues will reopen at 12 percent capacity as part of the state’s Phase 4 reopening plan taking effect later next month, The Boston Globe reported.

The state is set to move into the next step of its current reopening phase on Monday, allowing numerous businesses to increase capacity from 40 percent to 50 percent.

#COVID19MA public health metrics are moving in the right direction with continued drops in average daily cases and hospitalizations.

As a result, we are taking steps to reopen our economy:

⏩ Phase III, Step 2 begins Monday March 1
⏩ Phase IV, Step 1 begins Monday, March 22 pic.twitter.com/SojuJNVMsO

— Charlie Baker (@MassGovernor) February 25, 2021

The Red Sox’s season opener is set for April 1, a home game against the Baltimore Orioles, while the Celtics are set to play the New Orleans Pelicans at Gillette on March 29.

Official data indicate downward trends in the state for COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, positivity rates and deaths since the January peak. People 0-19 are the highest age group for new cases, with 5,515 cases in the past two weeks, according to MassLive, citing data from the state health department.

The mean age of deaths from the virus has declined from 79 to 78 in the past two weeks, down from 86 in August. The mean age among hospitalized patients has also fallen, from 70 to 69 in the past two weeks and from 59 in August. About 15.8 percent of the state’s population has gotten at least their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine as of Tuesday.

Baker’s announcement comes on the heels of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) announcement that the Empire State’s sports venues will open at 10 percent capacity amid falling virus rates.