Framingham’s Covid-19 test positivity rose to 8.7% in the last 14 days, according to data released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health today. That’s considerably higher than WHO’s recommend level of 5%, an indication both that cases are rising and testing is no longer adequate to fully understand actual infection levels. The city’s rate last week was 7.4%
Known cases per 100,000 population jumped to 80.6. That’s 10 times the Baker administration’s original metric for high-risk, red-zone communities. (For cities larger than 50,000, the new level is at least 10 cases per 100K and positivity over 5%. Framingham blew past the new number weeks ago.)
Total number of known cases in the past 14 days rose 27%, to 840. Number of tests administered only rose by 11%. In other words, total cases rose at more than double the rate that testing did.
State averages
The state averaged 65.1 known new cases per 100,000 in the last 14 days with a test positivity rate of 6.01%. 187 communities are now in deemed high-risk red under the revised, more stringent Covid-19 risk color scale: