Milford Reaches New Pandemic Lows — And Highs

MILFORD, MA — Gov. Charlie Baker lifted the statewide emergency order over coronavirus on Tuesday, matching with a major slowdown in cases in Milford, according to the Board of Health.

As of Friday, the town-wide positive test rate was just 0.72 percent, and the town has only been adding about five new cases per week amid warm weather and coronavirus vaccines being more widely available.

Speaking of vaccines, Milford's population was more than 70 percent fully vaccinated as of Friday, according to the Board of Health. More than 82 percent of the town had one or more doses.

In less than six weeks, 46 percent of Milford youth between 12 and 15 have been fully vaccinated — and the Pfizer vaccine has only been approved for use in children that young since May 10.

Milford spent several months this winter on the state's list of high-risk communities for coronavirus spread. When Milford left the list in February, the town's positive test rate was nearly 5 percent, and 26.5 new cases were being detected each day.

The statewide weekly average death rate was just 2.9 per day as of Thursday, the lowest on record, according to the state Department of Public Health. The average case rate and hospitalization rate also fell and there were just 2,121 estimated active cases across Massachusetts.