BOSTON — For the first time in approximately five months, Lowell did not appear on the state Department of Public Health’s weekly list of communities at “high-risk” for coronavirus transmission.
Lowell’s removal from the list on Thursday follows the trend across the rest of the state, as according to health officials, only 19 cities and towns statewide remain categorized as high risk. That figure is a massive drop from the 153 communities that were reported in the high-risk category just four weeks ago.
To qualify as high-risk for coronavirus transmission, the DPH states communities with populations under 10,000 must have more than 25 cases of the virus. For communities between 10,000 and 50,000 people, they must have an average of at least 10 cases per 100,000 people and a positive test rate of at least 5%. For communities with a population exceeding 50,000, they must have at least 10 cases per 100,000 people and a positive test rate of at least 4%.
As of Thursday, the DPH data shows Lowell’s average daily COVID-19 incidence rate per 100,000 people over the last 14 days is 24.5, a significant decrease compared to this year’s peak of 88 cases per 100,000 people reported on Jan. 12.
Lowell’s percent positivity rate over the last two weeks dipped to 3.86%, down from this year’s peak of 10.42%, also reported on Jan. 12.
Lowell was placed on the state’s high-risk list on Sept. 30, according to the DPH COVID-19 data archives.
To date, health officials say there have been 14,514 cases of COVID-19 infections reported in Lowell since the pandemic began, including 398 cases reported over the last 14 days. The DPH also said there have been 219,986 coronavirus tests administered in Lowell to date, including 12,611 over the last two weeks.
Nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 65,424 new cases of COVID-19 Thursday afternoon, bringing the total to nearly 28.6 million cases since the pandemic began. The CDC also announced the virus’ nationwide death toll was 517,224 as of Thursday afternoon, an increase of roughly 16,043 deaths compared to last Thursday.
Below is the total COVID-19 infections by city and town from Jan. 1, 2020, through Tuesday and how that total compares to last week’s numbers:
- Acton – 773 (+14)
- Ayer – 745 (+12)
- Bedford – 752 (+11)
- Billerica – 3,188 (+64)
- Burlington – 1,652 (+22)
- Chelmsford – 2,425 (+41)
- Dracut – 3,075 (+66)
- Dunstable – 131 (+5)
- Groton – 404 (+11)
- Littleton – 478 (+9)
- Lowell – 14,514 (+167)
- Pepperell – 433 (+9)
- Shirley – 784 (+4)
- Tewksbury – 2,839 (+30)
- Townsend – 385 (+8)
- Tyngsboro – 948 (+22)
- Westford – 1,068 (+9)
- Wilmington – 1,870 (+40)
Follow Aaron Curtis on Twitter @aselahcurtis
