Framingham’s known new Covid-19 cases rose this week, but the number of tests given to city residents hit a record high, according to data released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health today.
The city remains a Mass high-risk “red zone” community with 12.8 known new cases per 100,000 people in the last 14 days. Rates higher than 8 per 100K classify a community at high risk under state guidelines. Surprisingly, the state looks at raw numbers only and does not consider testing per capita or positivity rates in its designations.
Number of tests in the last 14 days soared to 6,471. That’s up 17% from last week’s 5,511. However, even with last week’s lower test rate, the city would likely still be in the red zone.
Framingham’s test positivity rate remained relatively stable at 2.52%.
Massachusetts DPH also reported today that Covid-19 hospitalizations are up 63% statewide since mid-August.
Below is a graph of the 7-day average of known new cases in actual numbers (not per 100,000) in Framingham:
Elsewhere in MetroWest, Marlborough remained a red-zone community with rates and positivity similar to Framingham. Holliston moved out of the red zone, but Southborough and Hudson are now also considered high risk.