North Andover Coronavirus Case Count Rises To 124

NORTH ANDOVER, MA — North Andover's case count rose to 124 active cases in the latest update from Town Manager Melissa Rodrigues, Thursday.

Most of the cases — 111 — are at the college, but the 13 community cases are an increase from the seven non-college cases the town reported Monday. Prior to the college outbreak, North Andover had not had more than 12 active cases since mid-June.

The town was deemed a high-risk community in the state's town-by-town update, Wednesday, meaning it cannot move into the next phase of reopening. But Rodrigues noted in Thursdays update that this status can be attributed to the college outbreak.

"Without the Merrimack College cases, the town would have an incident rate of 3.8 percent and be categorized as a green (lower risk) community," Rodrigues said. Sixteen cases over the last two weeks, the period measured, were not connected to the college.

Town and school officials decided to move forward with hybrid learning despite the outbreak, they said Tuesday.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.