Gov. Charlie Baker canceled his public events for Tuesday afternoon due to an undisclosed illness, an aide said.
The abrupt scheduling change came less than an hour before Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito were slated to attend a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Vertex’s Jeffery Leiden Center in the Seaport in Boston.
“Governor Baker is not feeling well and will not be attending public events in person today,” Terry MacCormack, a spokesman for Baker, said in a statement to MassLive Tuesday afternoon. “The Governor is attending meetings virtually today and has tested negative for COVID-19.”
MacCormack did not immediately respond to MassLive questions about Baker’s symptoms and whether had tested negative on a rapid or PCR COVID test.
On Tuesday evening, Baker was planning to attend the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Meeting and be recognized as a 2022 “Distinguished Bostonian.”
Baker worked from the Massachusetts State House on Monday, though he did not hold a leadership meeting with Senate President Karen Spilka and House Speaker Ron Mariano.
With a bout of COVID infections circulating in the Senate — and reflecting high transmission rates throughout the commonwealth — Spilka has instructed elected leaders and staffers to wear masks in the chamber.
But that guidance falls short of the strict coronavirus precautions — including masking and proof of vaccination or a negative tests — that Spilka and Mariano briefly mandated in February when the State House reopened to the public. Spilka wore a mask at the most recent leadership meeting, though Baker and Mariano did not.
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