Danvers Coronavirus Rates Rise Sharply In Recent Weeks

DANVERS, MA — Coronavirus cases rose sharply in Danvers over the past week as the town joined a troubling trend of increased cases across the state.

The number of cases per 100,000 — the metric the state uses to determine community spread and whether a city or town is eligible to move forward with eased business restrictions and in-person schooling — rose from 3.8 last week to 6.5 in the state's weekly report released Thursday night.

The rise moved Danvers from a "green" safe community, to a "yellow" caution community when it comes to the risk of community spread. It is the second straight week of rising case numbers in the town.

Danvers had 26 new confirmed cases over coronavirus over the past two weeks. The town's test-positive rate also moved higher to 1.21 percent.

The state as a whole also remained above the high-risk threshold, reporting over eight average daily cases per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks. Seventy-seven communities — including Swampscott — were designated "high-risk" communities in the latest state report.

The positive test rate over the last two weeks increased in 130 — or 37.0 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate fell in 90 — or 25.6 percent — communities and held steady in the remaining 131.

State rules mean that high-risk communities, plus others that were high risk in the last two updates, cannot move on to the next phase of reopening. Towns were marked high risk, or red, if they reported more than eight average daily confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks.

The full list of town-by-town data can be found here.

More Danvers Patch Coverage: Danvers Coronavirus Test Rates Surge For Second Straight Week

MA Town-By-Town Coronavirus Stats: High-Risk List Keeps Growing