Leominster removed from state’s high-risk list
» For the first time this year, Leominster was removed from the state’s weekly list of communities at high risk for coronavirus transmission, as the COVID-19 data across the state continues to show encouraging trends.
Leominster joins other local communities removed from the high-risk list earlier this month, including Fitchburg, Shirley and Townsend, as each area’s COVID19 data has shown a downward trajectory in the average daily incidence rates and percent positivity rates, according to the state Department of Public Health.
To qualify in the high-risk category, 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 com
munities 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%.
According to the DPH, Leominster’s average daily COVID-19 incidence rate per 100,000 people over the last 14 days is 27.8, a significant drop from its peak this year of 128.6 reported on Jan. 12. Leominster’s percent positivity rate over the last two weeks is 4.62%, down from its peak this year of 14.15%, also reported on Jan. 12.
The removal of communities from the state’s high-risk category is a common trend across Massachusetts. Three
weeks ago, there were 153 communities still on the highrisk list. Two weeks ago, that number decreased to 110. Last week, health officials reported 65 towns and cities still considered communities at highrisk for COVID-19 transmission statewide. As of Thursday, there’s 28 communities on the list. It’s the sixth week in a row this number has dropped.
Also on Thursday, the DPH announced 1,928 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 statewide, bringing the total of confirmed cases to 545,624 since the pandemic began. Health officials also revealed 33 new confirmed deaths on Thursday, bringing the confirmed death toll to 15,675 statewide.
On Thursday, the DPH announced there were 853 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, including 221 patients in intensive care units statewide and 142 patients who were intubated. Thursday’s data shows the average age of patients hospitalized was 69.
There were an estimated 32,117 active COVID-19 cases statewide as of Thursday, which is an approximately 17% decrease compared to last Thursday’s data.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 69,563 new cases of COVID-19 nationwide early Thursday evening, bringing the total to nearly 28.1 million cases since the pandemic began. The CDC also announced the virus’ nationwide death toll was 501,181 as of Thursday evening, an increase of roughly 12,114 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:
: Ashburnham – 341 (+12) : Ashby – 148 (+1)
: Ayer – 733 (+9)
: Fitchburg – 4,017 (+89) : Gardner – 2,050 (+17) : Groton – 393 (+18) : Lancaster – 448 (+7) : Leominster – 4,346 (+65) : Lunenburg – 617 (+26) : Pepperell – 424 (+4) : Princeton – 127 (+4) : Rutland – 515 (+6)
: Shirley – 780 (+10) : Sterling – 594 (+14) : Townsend – 377 (+16) : Westminster – 447 (+14)