MA Town-By-Town Coronavirus Stats: 14 High-Risk Communities

MASSACHUSETTS — Massachusetts labeled just 14 communities as high risk for the coronavirus Thursday in the latest town-by-town report from the Department of Public Health.

The seven-day average positive test rate for the state fell slightly to 1.72 percent, the lowest level since October. Statewide case counts, hospitalizations and deaths also all fell.

A total of 1,589 new cases and 42 deaths were reported Thursday.

The seven-day average of hospitalized patients was 694, down from 783 a week prior. There were 176 patients in intensive care.

Last week, the town-by-town report labeled 19 communities at high risk for the virus. This week, only the following 14 still had that designation: Blackstone, Chicopee, Douglas, Fall River, Freetown, Lawrence, Ludlow, Plainville, Revere, Springfield, Sterling, Sutton, Westminster and Weymouth.

The positive test rate over the last two weeks fell in 164 — or 46.7 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate rose in 105 — or 29.9 percent — of communities and held steady in the remaining 82. Two-week confirmed case counts rose in 113 communities.

There were 20.3 average daily cases per 100,000 residents of the state over that period, down from 21.3 last week.

To date, there have been 563,983 cases and 16,218 deaths statewide since the pandemic began. Officials estimated that there were 25,901 active cases as of Thursday.

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Health officials say positive coronavirus test results need to stay below 5 percent for two weeks or longer and, preferably, be closer to 2 percent, for states to safely ease restrictions. The number of communities reporting rates above 5 percent fell to six, down from eight last week. None reported rates above 6 percent and 173 reported rates below 2 percent.

The state reported 110,385 new tests Thursday, bringing the total to 17.1 million.

The data includes coronavirus cases for all Massachusetts communities, except for those with populations under 50,000 and fewer than five cases. The department said the stipulation was designed to protect the privacy of patients in those towns and cities.

The state releases town-by-town testing data every Thursday, including the number of people tested, the testing rate, the positive test rate, cases and infection rates.

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How to use this map: Zoom in on the map below and click on a pin to see that community's coronavirus case data. You can also view the town-by-town coronavirus data in the spreadsheet we used to create this map.

The map does not include 1,463 of the state's cases because state health officials could not determine which communities the patients lived in.

Pin colors correspond to the state's risk designations. Red pins are high-risk, or red, communities. Yellow pins are medium risk, green pins low risk and grey pins at most 15 total cases for communities over 50,000 people and 10 for smaller communities.