MA Town-By-Town Coronavirus Stats: High-Risk List Keeps Growing
MASSACHUSETTS — Seventy-seven communities were designated high-risk for the coronavirus in the new town-by-town data released by the state Thursday, up from 63 the week before. The state as a whole also remained above the high-risk threshold, reporting over eight average daily cases per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks.
The positive test rate over the last two weeks increased in 130 — or 37 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate fell in 90 — or 25.6 percent — communities and held steady in the remaining 131.
State rules mean that high-risk communities, plus others that were high-risk in the last two updates, cannot move on to the next phase of reopening. Towns were marked high-risk, or red, if they reported more than eight average daily confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks.
Statewide, there were 9 average daily cases per 100,000 residents, putting the state above the high-risk threshold for a second consecutive week.
No towns were newly able to move forward Thursday. A number of communities were not red Thursday but remain barred from reopening due to being high-risk more recently.
Wrentham was added back to the list of high-risk communities, after clearing the required three-week period last week.
The following 20 communities were also added to the list Thursday: Ashland, Boxford, Buckland, Canton, Chicopee, Clinton, Mattapoisett, Middleborough, Millville, Monson, Norwood, Raynham, Rochester, Scituate, Seekonk, Somerset, Swampscott, West Bridgewater, Westfield and Westport.
The other 56 communities have been above the eight cases per 100,000 threshold in at least one of the last two weekly updates. The number of moderate-risk towns also increased, from 85 to 94.
Statewide, the positive test rate rose to 1.4 percent, the highest level since mid-August and up from a low of 0.8 percent in September.
There were 986 new COVID-19 cases and 30 deaths reported Thursday. There have been 9,589 deaths and 143,927 confirmed cases statewide since the pandemic reached the Bay State in March.
Health officials say positive test results need to stay below 5 percent for two weeks or longer and, preferably, be closer to 2 percent, for states to safely ease restrictions. Three towns had positive test rates at or above 5 percent over the last two weeks: Lawrence, Buckland and Middleton.
Sixty communities had positive rates between 2 and 5 percent.
The state reported 17,966 new people tested Thursday, bringing the number of people tested to 2.58 million.
The data includes coronavirus cases for all Massachusetts communities, except for those with populations under 50,000 and fewer than five cases. The department said the stipulation was designed to protect the privacy of patients in those towns and cities.
The state is continuing to release town-by-town testing data, including the number of people tested, the testing rate, the positive test rate, cases and infection rates.
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How to use this map: Zoom in on the map below and click on a pin to see that community's coronavirus case data. You can also view the town-by-town coronavirus data in the spreadsheet we used to create this map.
The map does not include 297 of the state's cases because state health officials could not determine which communities the patients lived in.
Pin colors correspond to the state's risk classification color codes.
The state data marks Milton, North Andover, Middleton and Chelmsford with asterisks, due to having more than 30 percent of their cases in the last two weeks linked to a long-term care facility, college or correctional facility.
This article originally appeared on the Boston Patch
