Salem Coronavirus Rates Rise, But Stay Below 'High-Risk' Range

SALEM, MA — As Salem enters the final weekend of telling potential visitors to "stay away" this Halloween season out of fears of a coronavirus spike, the city saw a rise in rates week over week — though that rise was less than several North Shore communities and the state average.

Salem's number of cases per 100,000 people — the metric the state uses to determine whether a city or town is at "high risk" for community spread — rose from 5.9 last week to 7.1 this week. That is still below the 8.0 cases per 100,000 that designates a community "high risk" and puts it at risk of having to roll back eased restrictions on businesses and restaurants.

Salem chose to stay in step 1 of phase 3 in the state's reopening last month as a precaution — meaning restaurant table limits and store capacity limits remained at summer levels.

Beverly, Danvers and Peabody were three of the 121 communities designated at "high risk" for community spread in the latest weekly report.

Wary of large crowds for Halloween weekend, Salem is closing parking garages to non-residents and area workers early in the day, issuing curfews on restaurants and downtown businesses Friday and Saturday night and having most commuter rail trains out of Boston bypass the Salem station Friday night and much of the day on Saturday and Sunday.

Statewide, there were 11.8 average daily cases per 100,000 residents, putting the state above the high-risk threshold for a third consecutive week. Last week, the state reported 9.2 average daily cases per 100,000.

The positive test rate statewide was 1.8 percent, more than double the September low of 0.8 percent. Salem's positive test rate was below the state average at 1.32 percent this week.

The positive test rate over the last two weeks increased in 184— or 52.4 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate fell in 57 — or 16.2 percent — communities and held steady in the remaining 110.

More Patch Coverage: MA Town-By-Town Coronavirus Stats: High-Risk List Soars To 121

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