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MASSACHUSETTS – The number of communities designated at high risk for the coronavirus continued to drop dramatically in Thursday’s city-by-city state data report, with positive test rates falling in more than three-quarters of cities and villages.
The state’s seven-day average positive test rate fell to 2.65 percent, the lowest level since the start of November. The number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths statewide have also declined over the past week.
Gov. Charlie Baker said on Thursday that the state has distributed more than a million vaccines in the last two months of the deployment.
Starting Thursday, people aged 75 and over were entitled to a caregiver or companion to accompany them to the appointment and get vaccinated if they register for an appointment
There were 2,213 new confirmed cases and 61 deaths on Thursday.
The seven-day average of inpatients was 1,419, down from 1,698 a week earlier. There were 304 patients in intensive care.
The city-by-city report called 110 Massachusetts communities at high risk for the virus, up from 153 last week; the full list can be found at the end of this article.
The rate of positive tests in the past two weeks has fallen in 271 – or 77.2 percent – of the state’s 351 communities. The rate increased in 50 – or 14.3 percent – of the communities and held steady in the remaining 30. The number of confirmed cases over two weeks only increased in 37 communities.
There were 38.5 average daily cases per 100,000 state residents during that period, up from 48.9 last week.
To date, there have been 523,258 cases and 14,964 confirmed deaths statewide since the start of the pandemic. Authorities estimate there were 50,344 active cases as of Thursday.
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Health officials say positive coronavirus test results must stay below 5% for two weeks or more, and preferably closer to 2%, for states to safely ease restrictions. The number of communities reporting rates above 5 percent fell to 106, from 154 last week.
Only two cities, Hancock and Tolland, reported positive test rates above 15%. Eighty-one reported testing rates below 2%.
The state reported 110,792 new tests on Thursday, bringing the total to 14.6 million.
The data includes coronavirus cases for all communities in Massachusetts except those with fewer than 50,000 residents and fewer than five cases. The department said the stipulation was designed to protect the privacy of patients in those cities.
The state releases city-by-city screening data every Thursday, including the number of people tested, test rate, positive test rate, cases and infection rates.
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How to use this card: Zoom in on the map below and click on a pin to view data on coronavirus cases in this community. You can also view the coronavirus data city by city in the spreadsheet we used to create this map.
The map does not include 1,464 of the state’s cases because state health officials were unable to determine which communities the patients lived in.
The colors of the pins correspond to the state risk designations. Red Pins are high risk or red communities. Yellow pins are medium risk, green pins low risk, and gray pins at most 15 cases in total.
High Risk Communities: Abington, Acushnet, Adams, Attleboro, Auburn, Avon, Ayer, Barnstable, Bellingham, Berkley, Blackstone, Boxford, Brewster, Bridgewater, Brockton, Carver, Chatham, Chelsea, Chicopee, Clinton, Cohasset, Dartmouth, Dedham , Dennis, Dighton, Douglas, Dracut, East Bridgewater, Eastham, Everett, Fairhaven, Fall River, Foxborough, Freetown, Gardner, Georgetown, Great Barrington, Halifax, Hamilton, Hampden, Hanover, Hanson, Haverhill, Holbrook, Holyoke, Hudson, Hull, Lakeville, Lawrence, Leominster, Littleton, Lowell, Ludlow, Lunenburg, Lynn, Malden, Marion, Marlborough, Marshfield, Methuen, Middleborough, Middleton, Monson, New Bedford, North Reading, Norwood, Orléans, Oxford, Palmer, Paxton, Peabody, Pembroke, Plainville, Plymouth, Quincy, Randolph, Raynham, Revere, Rochester, Rockland, Rutland, Salisbury, Sandwich, Saugus, Seekonk, Shirley, Somerset, Southampton, Southborough, Southbridge, Southwick, Spencer, Springfield, Sterling, Sunderland, Sutton, Swansea, Taun ton, Templeton, Townsend, Ware, Webster, West Bridgewater, West Brookfield, West Springfield, Westminster, Westport, Weymouth, Whitman and Winchendon.
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