Marlborough Coronavirus Cases Rising, Especially Among The Young

MARLBOROUGH, MA — One week after the state named Marlborough a "high-risk" community for coronavirus, cases in the city have continued to rise — an uptick city health officials attribute to gatherings and other events involving young people.

As of Monday, Marlborough was seeing 9.9 new cases per 100,000 people over the last two weeks. That's a rise from the 8.4 cases on Sept. 23 and the 9.2 cases on Sept. 25. The state considers a community "high-risk" if cases are above 8 per 100,000 over two weeks.

The number of active cases in Marlborough was also on the rise, up to 45 from 39 on Friday. Marlborough added 59 new cases over the period between Sept. 11 and Sept. 24, according to the health department. No new deaths were reported with the pandemic toll steady at 69.

On Tuesday, Health Director John Garside noted that Marlborough has seen younger people become a bigger share of the city's cases. The average age was at 47 at the beginning of September, but was down to 33 on Monday.

Fifty-four percent of new cases in September have been in people under age 30, he said. The largest group is people between 20 and 29, accounting for 31 percent of active cases today.

People going back to school and work, social gatherings and the Labor Day weekend have contributed to the rise, health officials believe.

"The under 30 age groups are very active socially and can be harder to reach through messaging," he said in an email. "We are promoting our messaging towards families with hopes that they can influence these younger family members."