Coronavirus Hot Spots: Mass. Communities With High Rates of Positive Tests

Massachusetts has released its latest weekly data on the coronavirus pandemic, including an updated version of the state's new community-level risk assessment map.

The data, from the Department of Public Health, includes a breakdown of the total number of coronavirus cases in each Massachusetts city and town, as well as the new map.

The data provided by the state in its weekly report on COVID-19 has changed as the pandemic has dragged on. Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders said Tuesday that her agency recognizes that it's necessary to change what data the state reports as it moves into different phases of outbreak.

Recent Coronavirus Tests Returning Positive

Among cities and towns with at least 15 new cases in the last two weeks, these 25 communities have the highest percentages of positive cases in that time period:

Community	Number of cases	Cases in the last 14 days	Average daily incidence rate per 100,000 in the last 14 days	Total tests in the last 14 days	Positive tests in the last 14 days	Percent positivity in the last 14 days
Lynn	4,195	343	24.3	5,356	400	7.47%
Revere	2,106	157	18.4	3,457	190	5.5%
Everett	1,925	76	11.2	1,887	94	4.98%
Brockton	4,470	96	7.0	3,224	155	4.81%
Chelsea	3,151	101	19.2	2,675	121	4.52%
Saugus	616	36	9.0	1,083	43	3.97%
Winthrop	335	20	7.6	794	27	3.4%
Fall River	1,855	104	8.3	3,782	125	3.31%
Salem	718	52	8.3	1,829	58	3.17%
Chicopee	557	47	5.9	1,950	60	3.08%
South Hadley	188	16	6.3	644	19	2.95%
Malden	1,349	49	5.2	2,140	62	2.9%
Peabody	1,088	52	6.7	2,290	66	2.88%
Attleboro	711	23	3.6	1,026	29	2.83%
Lawrence	3,878	105	8.5	4,437	125	2.82%
Randolph	1,007	27	5.6	1,406	38	2.7%
Quincy	1,305	70	4.9	3,155	81	2.57%
North Attleborough	284	16	3.8	706	18	2.55%
Taunton	1,059	52	6.5	2,391	60	2.51%
Holyoke	1,029	52	9.0	2,717	65	2.39%
Springfield	3,123	92	4.2	5,142	122	2.37%
New Bedford	2,295	62	4.4	3,259	76	2.33%
Boston	15,307	582	6.0	30,166	689	2.28%
Framingham	1,857	58	5.6	2,996	67	2.24%
Marlborough	1,071	36	5.9	2,142	43	2.01%

Data from between July 29, 2020, and Aug. 12, 2020, omitting communities with under 15 new cases in that span. The state notes that previous reports were based on the number of people who tested positive, but this percentage is instead based on the total number of positive tests. Both tallies are listed in the chart above.

Lynn had the highest rate of positive tests among qualifying communities. Since last week, when it also led the list, the city's rate increased from 6.12% to 7.47%. Revere, which also came in second last week's list, decreased from 6.05% to 5.5%. Everett had the third highest rate with 4.98%, a slight increase from last week, when 4.82% of its tests came back positive.

The state's overall rate has fluctuated. In the last 14 days, 1.75% of tests in Massachusetts came back positive. The rate of recent positive tests was 1.82% on Aug. 5, 1.74% on July 29, 1.67% on July 22 and 1.91% on July 15.

Take a closer look at last week's list.

Community Risk Assessment

On Tuesday, Gov. Charlie Baker revealed this new metric for understanding how much the virus has spread locally.

It shows the number of cases detected on average each day over the last two weeks in each of Massachusetts' communities. More than 8 cases per 100,000 translates to a high risk, between 4 and 8 cases per 100,000 is moderate risk, and any less than that is low risk, Baker said.

Massachusetts Department of Public Health

Cities and towns shaded red have the greatest risk levels. There are 11 in this map, up from four in the first map, which included data from July 22 to Aug. 5.

The high-risk communities in Wednesday's report are Lynn, Chelsea, Revere, Everett, Saugus, Holyoke, Lawrence, Fall River, Salem, Granby and Hull. All but the last two appear on the list of communities ranked by percent positivity. Both those communities' percentages are high enough to be ranked, but their total case counts in the last two weeks are below 15.