About a dozen cities and towns remain in the state’s high risk category for the coronavirus after several communities left the hot zone this week, but more were added, according to state data.
Town-by-town COVID count
Brockton, Chelsea, Everett, Lawrence, Lynn, Revere, Salem, Saugus, South Hadley and Winthrop are all red-shaded under the color-coded state risk assessment system. This means that they reported a daily average of eight or more cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 inhabitants over the two-week period ending August 15th.
Brockton, South Hadley and Winthrop are new additions to the high-risk list, while Holyoke, Hull and Granby all fell. Fall River, which was reported as a hot spot last week, was downgraded several days ago after reports of problems from a commercial laboratory were improved, according to the state Department of Public Health.
Chelsea, which has long had the highest cumulative infection rate in the state, posted the highest average daily incidence rate of 23.9 per 100,000 inhabitants this week. Lynn was close behind with an incident rate of 23.6, followed by Revere with 18.9, Winthrop with 11.4, South Hadley with 11.1, Everett with 11, Salem with 10.5, Saugus with 9, Lawrence with 8.6 and Brockton with 8.5. The state average was 3.9.
“The numbers are starting to run,” said Chelsea City Manager Thomas Ambrosino. “We really need to keep up with the good behavior and behavior that got us through the months of April and May.”
The cluster of high-risk cities North Shore remains a concern for both state and local officials. Revere Mayor Brian Arrigo said public health officials in Chelsea, Everett, Lynn and Revere continue to work with the state on regional enforcement efforts to curb the infection rates that have remained stubbornly higher in their communities.
Arrigo said the tough cities are looking for companies identified as part of coronavirus clusters.
They also go to the small meetings and parties “we really know the main problem of many of our positive figures,” Arrigo said.
“We’ve had case after case, where we’ve seen a little dinner party where one person turns positive in nine, 10, 20 people,” he said.
Cities can also look at stricter rules for playgrounds and large specialty stores.
The number of moderate-risk communities is shrinking to 29 this week from 35. Cities and cities at moderate risk – painted yellow on the state’s coronavirus map – are those that report between four and eight cases per 100,000 inhabitants . Boston was among them, with an average daily incident rate of 6.4.
Communities in green, about 80 this week, are considered at lower risk, with fewer than four cases on average per 100,000 people.
