The number of Massachusetts communities classified as “high risk” for the transmission of COVID-19 continued to drop sharply on Thursday, according to the latest data from the Department of Public Health.
There are now 66 cities and towns with the highest risk designation on Thursday. Last week, the number of cities and towns flagged as high risk was 110, down from 153 the week before.
This represents a 40% reduction in the number of high-risk communities compared to last week and a 30.5% reduction in the number of individuals living in high-risk communities.
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Here are the cities and towns currently at high risk by county:
Barnstable County: Barnstable, Brewster, Chatham, Orleans
Bristol County: Acushnet, Berkley, Dighton, Fall River, Freetown, New Bedford, Raynham, Seekonk, Somerset, Swansea, Taunton, Westport
Essex County: Boxford, Georgetown, Haverhill, Lawrence, Lynn, Methuen, Peabody, Saugus
Franklin County: Sunderland
Hampden County: Chicopee, Holyoke, Ludlow, Southwick, Springfield
Hampshire County: Southampton, Ware
Middlesex County: Ayer, Dracut, Littleton, Lowell, North Reading
Norfolk County: Cohasset, Plainville, Weymouth
Plymouth County: Abington, Bridgewater, Brockton, Carver, Lakeville, Marion, Middleborough, Plymouth, Rockland, West Bridgewater, Whitman
Suffolk County: Chelsea, Revere
Worcester County: Blackstone, Bolton, Clinton, Douglas, Gardner, Lancaster, Leominster, Oxford, Rutland, Southbridge, Sterling, Templeton, Westminster
Risk designations – which are colored, gray, green, yellow and red based on levels of infection – are determined using several new metrics for three population categories: communities with a population of less than 10,000; between 10,000 and 50,000; and over 50,000.
For communities with less than 10,000 residents, “gray” will be assigned if there are 10 cases in total or less; “Green” if there are up to 15 cases; “Yellow” if there are up to 25 cases; and “red” if there are more than 25 cases.
For communities with between 10,000 and 50,000 residents, “gray” will be assigned if there are 10 cases in total or less; “Green” if there are less than 10 average cases per 100,000 residents and more than 10 cases; “Yellow” if there are 10 or more cases per 100,000 residents or a positive test rate of 5% or more; and “red” if there are 10 or more cases per 100,000 residents and a test positivity rate of 5% or more.
And for communities with more than 50,000 residents, “gray” will be assigned if there are 15 cases in total or less; “Green” if there are less than 10 average cases per 100,000 residents and more than 15 cases; “Yellow” if there are 10 or more cases per 100,000 residents or a positive test rate of 4% or more; and “red” if there are 10 or more cases per 100,000 residents and a positive test rate of 4% or more.
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