Town-by-town COVID-19 map shows 79 towns considered ‘high-risk’ on Thanksgiving week

BOSTON — As families across Massachusetts celebrated a different kind of Thanksgiving this year, the new town-by-town COVID-19 data showed cases continue to increase in the commonwealth.

Its no secret new data suggests Massachusetts has already entered its second wave of COVID-19 cases as both infections and hospitalizations are on the way up.

New COVID-19 health data issued by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Thursday, Nov. 27 highlighted the significant recent increase in COVID-19 cases and infection rates throughout the state.

On Thursday, the updated map showed 79 communities are now considered “red zones” for COVID-19, a 17-town increase from last week. That means these cities and towns are at higher risk of contracting the virus than anywhere else in the state.

Recently, Governor Baker and his administration announced improvements were being made to the metrics used to track the town-by-town COVID-19 health data. Part of the new improvements to the map include new color-coded distinctions based off of individual cities and towns’ demographics.

Also this week, 143 communities were designated as being “yellow zones,” which means they’re not at as much risk as red towns, but are still being monitored for their higher than ideal infection rates. Last week, 131 communities were considered at moderate risk, which means Massachusetts saw 12 more cities and towns added to that list this week.

The risk measurement system for cities and towns in Massachusetts raises the cases required per 100,000 threshold for the “red” designation while adding variables for community size and positive test rate.

The system breaks down cities and towns into three categories based on population: those with fewer than 10,000 residents, those with between 10,000 and 50,000 residents, and those with more than 50,000 residents.

The criteria for labeling towns has changed to include gray, along with the existing red, yellow and green designations of how prevalent cases of the virus are in any given city or town.

Towns and cities in red this week include: Attleboro, Barnstable, Bellingham, Berkley, Blackstone, Boxford, Brockton, Chelmsford, Chelsea, Chicopee, Clinton, Dartmouth, Dighton, Douglas, Dracut, East Longmeadow, Edgartown, Everett, Fairhaven, Fall River, Fitchburg, Framingham, Freetown, Gardner, Georgetown, Hampden, Haverhill, Holyoke, Hopedale, Lancaster, Lawrence, Leicester, Lenox, Leominster, Littleton, Lowell, Ludlow, Lunenburg, Lynn, Malden, Marion, Mendon, Merrimac, Methuen, Middleton, Milford, Millbury, Monson, New Bedford, Norfolk, Oak Bluffs, Paxton, Peabody, Rehoboth, Revere, Rutland, Salisbury, Saugus, Seekonk, Shirley, Somerset, Southbridge, Southwick, Springfield, Sterling, Sutton, Swansea, Taunton, Templeton, Tisbury, Tyngsboro, Upton, Uxbridge, Wenham, West Boylston, West Springfield, Westminster, Westport and Whitman.

Among those considered at moderate risk are: Abington, Acton, Acushnet, Agawam, Amesbury, Amherst, Andover, Arlington, Ashburnham, Ashby, Ashland, Auburn, Avon, Ayer, Bedford, Belchertown, Belmont, Beverly, Billerica, Boston, Bourne, Boxborough, Braintree, Bridgewater, Brookline, Burlington, Cambridge, Canton, Charlton, Concord, Dalton, Danvers, Dedham, Dover, Dudley, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, Easthampton, Easton, Foxborough, Franklin, Gloucester, Grafton, Granby, Groton, Groveland, Halifax, Hanover, Hanson, Hingham, Holbrook, Holden, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hudson, Hull, Ipswich, Kingston, Lakeville, Lee, Longmeadow, Lynnfield, Mansfield , Marblehead, Marlborough, Marshfield, Mashpee, Mattapoisett, Maynard, Medfield, Medford, Medway, Melrose, Middleborough, Millis, Milton, Nahant, Nantucket, Natick, Needham, Newbury, Newburyport, Newton, North Adams, North Andover, North Attleboro, North Reading, Northampton, Northborough, Northbridge, Norton, Norwood, Oxford, Palmer, Pembroke, Pepperell, Pittsfield, Plainville, Plymouth, Quincy, Randolph, Raynham, Reading, Rochester, Rockland, Salem, Scituate, Sharon, Shrewsbury, Somerville, South Hadley, Spencer, Stoneham, Stoughton, Stow, Sturbridge, Sudbury, Sunderland, Swampscott, Tewksbury, Townsend, Wakefield, Walpole, Waltham, Ware, Wareham, Watertown, Wayland, Webster, Wellesley, Westborough, Westfield, Westford, Weston, Westwood, Weymouth, Wilbraham, Wilmington, Winchester, Winthrop , Worcester, Wrentham and Yarmouth.

As of Nov. 27, a total of 115,755 people have undergone a quarantine period (but are no longer subject to quarantining) and a total of 10,987 people are currently being monitored and undergoing quarantine. So far, 126,742 Massachusetts residents in total have been subject to quarantine since the outbreak began locally.

Last week saw 14 new communities added to the high-risk category.

Leading up to Thanksgiving week, officials were wary of an increase in cases following the holiday where friends and family tend to gather in close proximity. Governor Baker, among other local leaders, was firm with his warning for residents not to travel or hold large gatherings in efforts to help flatten the curve.

The increase in cases and hospitalizations this week still don’t reflect that fear, but health officials say its very possible the state sees a sharp increase in the following weeks as people begin to present symptoms.

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According to the new town-by-town data, the average age of COVID-19 cases is 39, but the average age of cases that had to be hospitalized was 65. The average age of deaths among confirmed COVID-19 cases is 81 - a number that remains unchanged from the previous week.

In the state as a whole, there have now been a total of 211,748 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 4,464 newly reported Friday. An additional 29 new deaths bring the death toll to 10,401 people who died with confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Those numbers reflect data collected early afternoon Wednesday, Nov. 25 through 8 a.m. Friday, Nov. 27.

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Since last week, 699 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 3,982.

According to Gov. Charlie Baker, part of the reason for the change to the weekly dashboard is that very few cities towns in Massachusetts have a population over 100,000.

Baker believes previous metrics were not as fair to small towns.

“I happen to think this is a more nuanced and more accurate way to test how communities are doing, not just in their cases per 100,000, but how they’re doing with respect to testing and practices and policies,” Baker said.

Massachusetts Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders said new and better information from around the country helped inform the changes, and it will also help determine when a community will move forward or backward in a phase.

“Communities currently in Step 1 of Phase 3 will need to have 3 weeks of data where the community is designated yellow, green or grey to move to the next phase,” Sudders said.

Baker stressed that the more information the better adding that testing remains an important component.

“And we want communities to test. I don’t want some communities to say I’m not going to test because I’m worried about increasing my numbers. I want people to test,” Baker said.

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