Peabody To Offer Coronavirus Testing Amid Reopening Rollback

PEABODY, MA — As some businesses in Peabody face closures and increased restrictions with the city meeting the state's "high-risk" metric for coronavirus community spread, the Peabody Health Department announced it will offer a series of testing opportunities for residents this month.

Drive-up testing will be at the Higgins Middle School from 4 to 8 p.m. on Dec. 9, Dec. 16, Dec. 22 and Dec. 29. Residents can preregister for testing with new links sent out each week.

The Peabody cases per 100,000 people — the sole metric the state used until last month to determine the extent to which a community can reopen businesses—rose to 58.5 in Thursday's state report. That is sharply higher than the 36.9 cases from the Nov. 20 report and 15.8 cases from the report four weeks ago.

Because it is the third straight week being in the high-risk category, city businesses are forced to revert back to step 1 of phase 3 of the state's reopening — meaning indoor theaters, performance venues, trampolines, laser tag and other entertainment businesses must close, and capacities for gyms, libraries and museums are reduced from 50 to 40 percent.

"We know this news may be disappointing for local businesses and residents, and we appreciate your compliance with these requirements," the Peabody Health Department said. "By working together, we hope to mitigate the impact of this pandemic in our community, and we all look
forward to brighter days ahead."

The Peabody positive test rate was 6.93 percent over the past two weeks, compared to 4.86 over the same span leading up to Nov. 20. The city had 458 new cases over the two-week period leading up to Thursday, compared to 325 cases over the same span leading up to Nov. 20.

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