Framingham’s rate of positive Covid-19 tests vs overall tests administered is now lower than the Massachusetts average, good news in a city that had the state’s 11th-highest cumulative infection rate per capita.
Experts consider a low positive rate to be a sign that officials are finding most cases – key in the battle to isolate and contain the virus.
According to Mass. Department of Public Health data released earlier this week, Framingham had a test positivity rate of just 1.8%. The state-wide average was 2.25%.
That put Framingham at 99th in the state, with a lower rate than communities such as Marlborough and Worcester.
Unfortunately, that also meant Framingham didn’t qualify for one of eight new free Covid-19 test centers. Framingham Public Health Director Sam Wong told the MetroWest Daily News that the state should look at neighborhoods instead of a community’s overall rates. “The overall number for the entire city is skewed, is biased, in a way that we’re not really addressing the pockets within the city that are facing tremendous barriers,” Wong told reproter Jeannette Hinkle.
Below is the community-by-community data in a searchable table. Note that Note that percent positive testing is for the 14 days prior to July 8. In all cases, a higher ranking is better than a lower one.