A new wave of COVID-19 is hitting Boston nearly three years after the start of the pandemic.

Why it matters: Boston officials are asking people to mask up, maintain social distancing and avoid large crowds while the spread is still high.

• UMass Boston announced it would reinstate its indoor mask mandate starting today. Students and faculty are also required to mask up in crowded outdoor settings.

Driving the news: Suffolk County is now experiencing high community spread of COVID-19, according to the CDC.

• Dec. 28 through Jan. 4, Boston hospitals reported 306 new COVID-19 hospitalizations, a 41% increase from two weeks before, according to the Boston Public Health Commission.

Poop stats: The pandemic proof is in the pudding, or in this case, in the human waste processed by the Deer Island Wastewater Treatment Plant.

• As of Dec. 29, viral concentration in Suffolk County's wastewater was up 42% over the previous week and 116% over the last two weeks.

What they're saying: “We should all be masking indoors, staying home when sick and testing for COVID-19," Health Commissioner Dr. Bisola Ojikutu said in a statement.

• Ojikutu said the numbers speak for themselves, despite the fact that some people may have “pandemic fatigue.”

Details: Boston is still offering COVID-19 vaccines, booster shots, flu shots or PCR tests at several sites throughout the city.

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The cost of monthly health care coverage in Massachusetts is increasing, but not as rapidly as other costs in the current inflation economy.

Driving the news: A report from ValuePenguin lists the projected average monthly cost of a silver insurance plan for a 40-year-old applicant as $553 for 2023.

• That's up from $535 in 2022, a 3.36% increase.

Big picture: The state's health insurance cost climb is just under the national average of 3.5%.

• Costs in Georgia are predicted to skyrocket year over year, rising 20% from 2022.
• Virginia could see the biggest cost cut for insurance, at 17%.

Gov. Maura Healey opened up to the Globe's Yvonne Abraham about her personal life and partner of nearly two years. (Globe)

The husband of a missing Cohasset woman has ben arrested for misleading police in the investigation. (NBC 10)

A swastika was found painted on a sidewalk in Swampscott. (Herald)

Former Gov. Charlie Baker's former top aide opines on the legacy of the Baker administration. (Commonwealth)

Since the commonwealth does not provide a governor's mansion for her excellency, Gov. Maura Healey may be in the market for one.

• On top of her new $222,000 salary, Healey gets a $65,000 annual housing stipend. That'll be enough for a mansion near the State House, right?

There's no potential governor's mansion on the market more appropriate than this actual former governor's townhouse, once home to Gov. Alvan Fuller almost a century ago.

• The 123-year-old row house has three beds, four bathrooms and 14-foot ceilings spread over 4,700 square feet.
• It's certainly opulent, but maybe a bit too old-school-fancy for the people's lawyer-turned-governor.

She couldn't afford it on her salary anyway.

• The townhouse is $13.5 million with a nearly $2,500 monthly HOA fee.
• Zillow pegs the monthly cost of the place at just under $80,000. That's over three times Healey's new monthly salary.

More sensible options include this $560,000, 638-square-foot, one-bedroom condo on Clarendon Street or this itty-bitty studio rental on Newbury Street that's somehow less than $2,000 a month.