40 Massachusetts cities and towns are now at high risk for coronavirus

The number of cities and towns in the state’s red zone for coronavirus transmission swelled to a whopping 40 communities this week, nearly double the number at high risk last week as municipalities grapple with college campus outbreaks, clusters in jails and medical facilities and cases from unruly gatherings.

See the city and town stats.

The high-risk list now includes: Acushnet, Amherst, Attleboro, Avon, Boston, Brockton, Chelmsford, Chelsea, Dartmouth, Dracut, Dudley, Everett, Framingham, Haverhill, Holyoke, Hudson, Kingston, Lawrence, Leicester, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, Marlboro, Methuen, Middleton, Nantucket, New Bedford, North Andover, Plymouth, Randolph, Revere, Southboro, Southbridge, Springfield, Sunderland, Waltham, Webster, Winthrop, Woburn and Worcester.

Leading the list was Middleton, which had an average daily incidence rate of 58.1 per 100,000 residents over the two-week period ending Saturday — the red zone threshold is a case rate of eight — as the cluster at the Middleton Jail swelled to 139 inmates and 33 employees.

Close behind was North Andover, with an average daily case rate of 34.5, according to the weekly state Department of Public Health data.

Frustrated town officials blame their high-risk status on the Merrimack College outbreak that largely originated from a dormitory that’s actually located in neighboring Andover. The Board of Selectmen sent a letter to Gov. Charlie Baker on Tuesday urging him to reconsider their red designation, saying there’s “no community spread” beyond the college and asking him to carve out “obvious clusters” on campuses from the town data.

“I’m frustrated,” Selectman Phil Decologero said, lamenting how the red classification prevents already struggling businesses from moving into step two of the third phase of reopening. “I would hope when unique circumstances pop up that the state government would have some flexibility.”

Plymouth was dealing with an outbreak of more than two dozen men at the Massachusetts Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center. Winthrop officials fined one residence $300 for holding a party Saturday that exceeded the state’s gathering limits and where people were found not wearing masks or social distancing both inside and outside.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2GA3FE6