Marblehead Sees Spike In Coronavirus Numbers

MARBLEHEAD, MA — Marblehead's coronavirus numbers surged this week as the town moved from a "safe" to "caution" community in the state's metrics.

The town's cases per 100,000 residents — the metric the state uses to determine virus spread in a community and its ability to ease business restrictions — rose to 4.1 in the state's latest weekly report. Last week, Marblehead reported just 1.9 cases per 100,000 residents.

The rise puts Marblehead in the yellow "caution" designation of having 4.0 cases or more per 100,000 residents. Communities at 8.0 or more are considered "high risk" and must pull back on eased business and public gathering restrictions if they remain high risk for three weeks in a row.

Marblehead's test-positive rate remained relatively low at 0.91 percent — below the state average of 1.2 percent - but did rise sharply from 0.46 the week prior. There were 11 new cases reported over the two-week span.

The numbers also followed a troubling trend statewide as 63 communities were designed "red" high-risk in the new town-by-town data — up from 40 the week before.

The positive test rate over the last two weeks increased in 168 — or 47.9 percent — of the 35 communities in the state. The rate fell in 80 — or 22.8 percent — communities and held steady in the remaining 103.

Statewide, the positive test rate rose to 1.3 percent, up from 0.8 percent in mid-September.

Related Patch Coverage: MA Town-By-Town Coronavirus Stats: 63 High-Risk Communities