In another sign of progress in the battle against the spread of the coronavirus in Massachsuetts, a field hospital set up inside the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center is suspending the admission of new patients.
The field hospital, dubbed "Boston Hope," was one a handful of temporary emergency facilities created around the state to help hospitals cope with an expected influx of COVID-19 patients.
The facility served more than 700 COVID-19 patients and will continue to treat those still in the facility, Gov. Charlie Baker said Tuesday. The 1,000 beds will remain in place over the summer in case the state experiences another COVID-19 surge.
Baker said the decision to close the facility comes after daily conversations with the health care community.
"We've talked a lot about preparing for and dealing with the surge — which is now something that, thanks to a lot of work by a lot of people, is behind us — and as a result of that, many of the field hospitals that we set up around the state to add beds and reduce strain on hospitals have begun to close," he said.
The emergency hospital was pulled together by state and city officials, Mass General Brigham, Boston Healthcare for the Homeless, and others.
The state's hospitals were stressed but never overwhelmed by COVID-19 patients, according to Baker.
COVID-19 update
The number of new COVID-19 cases fell below 500 as the state continues to see steady improvement as it battles the coronavirus.
The number of individuals in Massachusetts diagnosed with confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday climbed to about 93,700 as the state reported 422 new cases.
The number of confirmed COVID-19-related deaths since the start of the pandemic climbed to 6,473 as another 57 deaths were reported.
There were other signs of progress.
The number of people currently hospitalized with the disease fell to about 2,100, down from about 3,100 two weeks ago.
The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care also fell to 560 — down from 818 two weeks ago.
The number of deaths at long-term care facilities rose to 3,924 — or about 60% of all COVID-19-related cases in the state.
