Framingham’s known new Covid-19 cases soared to an average of 17.8 per 100,000 population over the past two weeks, according to data released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. That’s now more than double the rate that would classify the city as a high-risk red zone community.
Source: Massachusetts Department of Public HealthAnd, the percentage of positive tests in Framingham was higher than 3% for the first time in three weeks.
Framingham is now far from alone among MetroWest communities in the red zone. Marlborough’s average rate of known new cases was even higher than Framingham’s at almost 20 (19.9) with a positivity rate also above 3%. Hudson hit 17.4 cases per 100K and positivity above 3%.
Southborough, Holliston, and Milford are also now in the red zone, although their rates remain significantly below Framingham’s. Natick and Ashland are still well below the 8 cases per 100K red-zone level.
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.
The state-wide average of known new cases per 100,000 people hit 8.7, which would put Massachusetts in the Baker administration’s owned defined high-risk red zone. Test positivity rates state-wide averaged just 1.17%, but the Baker administration does not consider positivity rates or number of tests per capita in classifying communities as white (0), grey, green, yellow, or red.
Total number of tests administered to Framingham residents in the most recent 14-day period rose to 7,027, once again a significant increase versus prior periods.
Framingham State University has not released test data since Oct. 4. So far, the school’s testing has not uncovered a large source of known new infections.
The city’s Covid-19 report today said “the majority of recent new positives are made up of people younger than 30 years old.” And, multiple people in the same household are testing positive.
“The Framingham Public Health Department is providing enhanced wrap-around services so the families can better isolate in place,” according to today’s announcement. “Those services include providing emergency food and connecting them with outside agencies that offer additional support services such as rental and fuel assistance programs.”
The city also previously announced it would start issuing fines for major violations of public-gathering restrictions aimed at protecting public health and safety instead of warnings.
See latest Covid-19 coverage at http://www.district2framingham.com/tags/covid19/.
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