Melrose Not Attributing Coronavirus Increase To Anything Specific

MELROSE, MA — City health officials could not attribute the recent increase in coronavirus cases to any specific incident. The city this week was elevated from green to yellow on the state's coronavirus map.

"In Melrose’s case, there is no one specific place or population," Health Director Ruth Clay told Patch. "The cases’ ages vary [as] well as locations."

Clay said there are some clusters of cases in which one person infected other members of the household.

"We will continue to monitor the cases," she said.

Melrose saw 21 cases over the past two weeks, according to the Department of Public Health. The city's positive test rate increased to 1.01 percent. There have now been 321 confirmed cases here throughout the pandemic.

"This is obviously not great news but it's not a reason to be alarmed," Mayor Paul Brodeur said in a YouTube video Wednesday night. "These numbers will fluctuate and the most important thing to follow is the trend over time."

Communities in the yellow have had between four and eight coronavirus cases per 100,000 residents in a two-week span. Communities in the green have had fewer than four coronavirus cases per 100,000.