MA Town-By-Town Coronavirus Stats: 1% Statewide Positive Rate

MASSACHUSETTS — More than two-thirds of Massachusetts communities had falling or steady positive coronavirus test rates over the last two weeks, according to new town-by-town data released by the state Wednesday. But five towns remained above the 5 percent positive threshold.

The seven-day statewide positive coronavirus test rate was 1.0 percent, the lowest level on record.

Statewide, there were 288 new COVID-19 cases and 22 deaths reported Wednesday. There have been 8,853 coronavirus-related deaths and 119,426 confirmed cases statewide since the pandemic reached the Bay State in March.

The state reported 15,579 tests conducted Wednesday, bringing the number of completed tests to 2.48 million.

The latest town-by-town data showed the positive test rate over the last two weeks increased in 100— or 28 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate fell in 118, or 34 percent, communities and held steady in the remaining 133.

Health officials say positive test results need to stay below 5 percent for two weeks or longer and, preferably, be closer to 2 percent, for states to safely ease restrictions. Five towns had positive test rates at or above 5 percent over the last two weeks: Chelsea, Lynn, Revere, Montgomery and Westhampton.

Twenty-one communities had positive rates between 2 and 5 percent.

The metric Gov. Charlie Baker has encouraged school districts to use as a guide to school reopening decisions, cases per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks, was also updated. Eight towns were marked red due to more than eight confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks: Chelsea, Everett, Framingham, Lawrence, Lynn, Revere, Westhampton and Winthrop.

Last week, nine towns were red.

The data includes coronavirus cases for all Massachusetts communities, except for those with populations under 50,000 and fewer than five cases. The department said the stipulation was designed to protect the privacy of patients in those towns and cities.

The state is continuing to release town-by-town testing data, including the number of people tested, the testing rate, the positive test rate, cases and infection rates.

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How to use this map: Zoom in on the map below and click on a pin to see that community's coronavirus case data. You can also view the town-by-town coronavirus data in the spreadsheet we used to create this map.

The map does not include 332 of the state's cases because state health officials could not determine which communities the patients lived in.

Pin colors are based on change in the positivity rate relative to last week's data; towns with increases are red, towns with decreases are green, and those reporting no change are yellow.