15 Cities, Towns Scale Back Reopening As Coronavirus Rages

MASSACHUSETTS — Fifteen more communities will scale back their reopening efforts Monday after landing in the state's high-risk zone for coronavirus spread for the third straight week.

The cities and towns that must move back from phase 3, step 2, to step 1 are Abington, Berkley, Canton, East Longmeadow, Fairhaven, Fall River, Hanover, Hanson, Hingham, Marshfield, Milford, Pembroke, Rockland, Wakefield and Weymouth.

Moving back to step 1 means closing indoor activities like roller skating and laser tag, reducing capacity at places like gyms and libraries from 50 percent to 40 percent and limiting outdoor gatherings to 50 people.

The communities that rolled back reopening last week were Acushnet, Brockton, Chelmsford, Holyoke, Hudson, Kingston, Leicester, Malden, Plymouth, Randolph, Waltham, Webster and Woburn.

Most communities entered step 3, phase 2, on Oct. 5. There is no date for when the state will enter step 4, which Gov. Charlie Baker has said would require a vaccine or therapeutics for COVID-19.

There are 121 communities in the red, high-risk zone.