It’s been a bad Covid-19 week in Framingham.
Although testing was down from the prior 14 days, known new cases rose 8%. The city registered 40.2 average daily known new cases per 100,000 population over the last 14 days, according to data released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health today.
And, for the first time in months, more than 5% of tests in Framingham came back positive.
“The World Health Organization recommended in May that the percent positive remain below 5% for at least two weeks before governments consider reopening,” a Johns Hopkins School of Public Health “Experts Insights” article noted this summer.
MWRA wastewater tests
Traces of Covid-19 virus in MWRA wastewater, considered a possible leading indicator for future infections, are now at higher levels than during the spring surge.
Biobot, the lab conducting testing and analysis, has revised its protocols several times in hopes of improving accuracy. The graph below uses new protocols announced on Dec. 3.
Framingham is in the South region, along with about 20 other communities including Ashland, Natick, Wellesley, and portions of Newton, Brookline, and Boston. (Click a series on the legend to turn it off or on.)
Go to the MWRA site for more info on the data.
Massachusetts averages
The state-wide Covid-19 average announced today was 35.7 cases per 100,000 and test positivity of 3.73%. Massachusetts Covid-19 hospitalizations are up 157% in the past 30 days.
Gov. Baker has still not taken any action to roll back reopenings despite the new surge.
Statewide maps
This is a statewide map by community under the new Covid-19 risk color scale:
Below is what the map would have looked like if the Baker administration hadn’t changed the criteria for red and yellow zones, when any community with at least 8 cases per 100K was deemed high-risk red, regardless of positivity.
Nationwide, the White House Coronavirus Task Force issued several severe warnings in an unpublished report obtained by several news organizations. (It was sent to the nation’s governors.)
In it, top federal medical experts warned Americans 65 and over to avoid indoor public places. And, those under 40 who had Thanksgiving indoors with people not in their household were told to consider themselves infected and dangerous to others.
The report said the current nationwide Covid risk “is at a historic high.”
See latest Covid-19 coverage at http://www.district2framingham.com/tags/covid19/.
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