BOSTON — New COVID-19 health data issued by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Thursday, Oct. 29 showed a spike in the number of communities in the state that are now considered at high risk for COVID-19.
Since last week, 54 additional towns have been marked as “red zones,” meaning those communities are now at increased risk for COVID-19 transmission. The criteria for labeling towns as low, moderate and high risk for the virus is dependent upon how many people within a city or town test positive for the virus and how prevalent it is.
Ten towns, however, dropped back down to “yellow” from red: Mattapoisett, Middleborough, Millville, Milton, Monson, Oxford, Scituate, Somerville, Swampscott and West Newbury.
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As of Oct. 27, a total of 97,606 people have undergone a quarantine period (but are no longer subject to quarantining) and a total of 5,805 people are currently being monitored and undergoing quarantine. So far, 103,411 Massachusetts residents in total have been subject to quarantine.
Last week saw 14 new communities added to the high-risk category.
Currently, the following towns are considered high-risk for coronavirus: Abington, Acushnet, Agawam, Ashland, Athol, Attleboro, Avon, Bedford, Bellingham, Berkley, Beverly, Billerica, Blandford, Bolton, Boston, Boxford, Braintree, Bridgewater, Brimfield, Brockton, Buckland, Canton, Chelmsford, Chelsea, Chicopee, Clinton, Cohasset, Danvers, Dartmouth, Dedham, Dighton, Dover, Dracut, East Bridgewater, East Longmeadow, Everett, Fairhaven, Fall River, Fitchburg, Framingham, Foxborough, Freetown, Gardner, Georgetown, Gloucester, Granby, Hanover, Hanson, Haverhill, Hingham, Holliston, Holyoke, Hubbardston, Hudson, Kingston, Lakeville, Lawrence, Leicester, Leominster, Littleton, Lowell, Lynn, Lynnfield, Mansfield, Malden, Marlborough, Marshfield, Medford, Mendon, Methuen, Middleton, Milford, Nahant, Nantucket, Newburyport, New Bedford, North Andover, North Attleborough, Northborough, Norton, Norwood, Palmer, Peabody, Pembroke, Plymouth, Randolph, Raynham, Revere, Rochester, Rockland, Salisbury, Saugus, Seekonk, Shrewsbury, Somerset, Southborough, Springfield, Swansea, Taunton, Tewksbury, Townsend, Tyngsborough, Wakefield, Waltham, Wareham, Webster, West Boylston, West Bridgewater, West Springfield, Westborough, Westfield, Westport, Westwood, Weymouth, Whitman, Wilmington, Winchester, Winthrop, Woburn, Worcester and Wrentham.
Effective Nov. 2, the following communities must revert to Step I Phase III of the Commonwealth’s reopening plan: Abington, Berkley, Canton, East Longmeadow, Fairhaven, Fall River, Hanover, Hanson, Hingham, Marshfield, Milford, Pembroke, Rockland, Wakefield, and Weymouth.
According to the new town-by-town data, for the past two weeks, the average age of COVID-19 cases has been 38, but the average age of cases that had to be hospitalized was 67. The average age of deaths among confirmed COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks was 81.
In the state as a whole, there has now been a total of 151,741 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 1,243 newly reported Thursday. An additional 27 new deaths bring the death toll to 9,727 people who died with confirmed cases of COVID-19.
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Since last week, 175 new COVID-19 cases have been reported among higher education testing since last week, bringing the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases associated with higher education to 1,583.
The state’s town-level data is now available in an interactive map. You can explore the data in more detail below or view a full-screen version here:
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