Framingham remains one of only eight Covid-19 ‘red zone’ communities in the state as the city’s known new infections rate per 100,000 people rose to 10.9, according to data released Wednesday by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Test positivity jumped to 3.46%, up from 2.8% the prior week.
If Framingham was a U.S. state with those numbers, residents would be required to quarantine before traveling to Massachusetts, since both known infections and positivity are higher than Rhode Island’s.
“We’re continuing to see the double-digit increases over a couple of days, and that’s concerning,” Alexandra DePalo, Framingham’s assistant director of public health, told the MetroWest Daily News.
Below is a graph of actual average daily cases in the last seven days (not per 100,000 people) as of Sept. 2:
Framingham’s known new cases per capita are more than 2.5 times the Massachusetts average, and its test positivity rate was triple the state-wide number.
The state uses average daily reported cases over the most recent 14 days to categorize communities as grey (best), green, yellow, and red. Unfortunately, it does not include positivity rates as part of those calculations.
A rate of more than 8 known daily new infections per 100,000 people classifies a community as in the red zone.
State scale: Gray, less than 5 reported cases in the last 14 days; Green, less than 4 cases per 100,000 population; Yellow, 4-8 cases per 100,000 population; Red, more than 8 cases per 100,000 population.
In a video call arranged by Nicole Doak, founder of the Framingham Coronavirus Community Outreach group, Framingham Public Health Director Sam Wong said Framingham’s population density means there will likely be more consequences if residents don’t follow safe practices such as social distancing and wearing masks, according to the MetroWest Daily News. However, other cities such as Waltham and Somerville has much higher population densities yet are not in the red zone.
A new free drive-through Covid-19 testing center opens today at Staples corporate headquarters, 500 Staples Drive. The center will be open Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; no appointment or health insurance required. (Testing at all centers will be closed on Labor Day.)
There is also free walk-up testing at Amazing Things Art Center Tuesdays and Thursdays 3 to 6 p.m. (160 Hollis St.) and South Middlesex Opportunity Council (SMOC) on Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays from 3 to 6 p.m.
For information about other testing centers, some of which may require appointments or payment, see the Framingham Web site.
Looking at a regional leading indicator, MWRA tests of wastewater for Covid-19 (traces of the virus can show up in sewage before people get tested), the South region ticked down again after an increase earlier this month. Framingham is in the South region, but is only a small portion of it since around 20 other cities and towns are in the region as well including Boston and Newton.
See latest Covid-19 coverage at http://www.district2framingham.com/tags/covid19/.
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