Beverly Coronavirus Case Rates Surge Higher

BEVERLY, MA — Coronavirus case rates in Beverly continued on a steep upward climb this past week with 26.8 cases per 100,000 people and 166 positive tests over the past two weeks.

The rate is more than three times the 8.0 cases per 100,000 people the state used to determine a "high-risk" city for community spread before it changed its metrics three weeks ago.

Beverly's case rate was 17.7 last week and 14.8 two weeks ago. The positive test rate of 1.68 percent in the latest state report was up from 1.26 percent last week and 1.13 percent two weeks ago.

The positive test rate over the last two weeks increased in 266 — or 75.8 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate fell in 36 — or 10.3 percent — communities and held steady in the remaining 49.

Statewide, there were 29.7 average daily cases per 100,000 residents, up from 20.7 last week. The number of high-risk communities rose from 30 to 62.

Fifty-nine towns had positive test rates at or above 5 percent over the last two weeks, up from 30 last week.

Over 160 communities had positive rates between 2 and 5 percent.

The state reported 92,139 new tests Friday, bringing the total number of tests to 7.6 million.

More Patch Coverage: MA Town-By-Town Coronavirus Stats: High-Risk List Doubles

Beverly Coronavirus Cases Push Higher Once Again