Marlborough Rise In Coronavirus Cases In 'High-Risk' Range

MARLBOROUGH, MA — Marlborough may join the list of "high-risk" communities in Massachusetts this week as the average number of new cases per day has continued to rise, according to data released Monday.

As of Monday, Marlborough was seeing 8.3 new cases per day on average over the last two weeks. The state considers a community "high-risk" when that metric is above 8 new cases per day.

Up until Monday, Marlborough was only in the moderate risk category. On Sept. 16, the average daily cases hit 5.6. That number rose to 7.2 by Friday.

The state Department of Public Health releases a weekly update on communities across the state each Wednesday. The high-risk communities appear on a state map colored in red. As of last Wednesday, there were 17 Massachusetts communities on the high-risk list, including Framingham and Worcester.

Becoming a high-risk community also has some benefits. In general, the state has been offering high-risk communities help with virus prevention education and help enforcing social distancing rules. State workers have been fanning out across Framingham in recent weeks visiting businesses and handing out masks at parks and supermarkets.

The number of active cases in Marlborough hit 37 on Monday, but city health officials did not report any new deaths.