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FRAMINGHAM – The Commonwealth of Massachusetts released its lastest list of high-risk communities tonight, September 2, and Framingham is now one of 8 hot spots in the state.
Last week, Framingham one among nine communities listed as high-risk or red, with a rating of 8.7 cases out of 100,000 cases over 14 days.
This week, Framingham rating has increased to 10.9.
That is a 25.29% increase in the last week.
The highest in the state is Chelsea with a rating of 29.4, but that is down from last week when it was over 32.
Brockton which was 8.1 is now yellow at 7.0. Everett and Lawrence are both higher than Framingham at 15.9 and 14.9 respectively.
The City of Boston is yellow at 7.4 and Worcester at 5.8 are both yellow communities.
Framingham now has the 6th highest rate of infection in the state with a rate of 3.46%.
| Community | Number of cases | Cases in the last 14 days | Average daily incidence rate per 100,000 in the last 14 days | Total tests in the last 14 days | Positive tests in the last 14 days | Percent positivity in the last 14 days |
| Chelsea | 3,388 | 155 | 29.4 | 3,061 | 180 | 5.88% |
| Revere | 2,354 | 178 | 20.9 | 3,964 | 228 | 5.75% |
| Lynn | 4,507 | 171 | 12.1 | 5,185 | 259 | 5.00% |
| Everett | 2,083 | 108 | 15.9 | 2,433 | 120 | 4.93% |
| Lawrence | 4,151 | 184 | 14.9 | 4,489 | 207 | 4.61% |
| Framingham | 2,024 | 114 | 10.9 | 3,523 | 122 | 3.46% |
City of Framingham Health Director Sam Wong said one of the reasons for the increase in new COVID-19 cases is gatherings.
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Wong told the Board of Health last week, he wants residents to not host or attend parties.
“We are seeing cases happening because of gatherings” said Wong to Board of Health on Thursday night. “And because the weather is warm, and people are going out and having parties. We are seeing some cases from that.”
A majority of the new cases are individuals of which English is not their first language.
Only 14% of the new cases are individuals of whom English is their first language.
Wong told the Board of Health some of the new coronavirus cases are “related to work places.”
That includes essential workers, and healthcare workers.
Contract tracing efforts are also showing that new cases also have ties to retail stores in Framingham, like Walmart.
“We saw some cases from personal care services,” Wong told the 3-member Framingham Board of Health last week.
“We are looking at a third walk-up testing site in the southeast corner of the city,” said Wong.
That means that some of the new cases are happening in Districts 7-8-9 of the City of Framingham.
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Health Director Wong said his office plans to work with Framingham Police to step up enforcement of gatherings.
Those efforts are:
- Continue to offer more free testing for our residents, and start to conduct targeted testing at senior housing buildings and select neighborhoods.
- Step up our messaging campaign on preventive measures to various segments of our community.
- Explore ways to step up enforcement actions on violations of state mandates.
Wong said he knows he sounds like a ‘broken record,” but people need to wear face coverings when in public, avoid large gatherings, and wash their hands frequently.
MetroWest Medical Center