Containing COVID

Things continue to look up for area communities in their quest to lower the rate of COVID-19 transmission.

Ayer, Dracut and Leominster were among the 37 cities and towns statewide removed from the high-risk list, according to state data released Thursday.

Health officials said 28 communities — including Lowell and Westminster — remain high risk, down from 153 communities in that category just three weeks ago.

Leominster now joins its midsized urban neighbor Fitchburg — as well as Shirley, Ayer, Pepperell and Townsend — where COVID19 data have shown a downward trajectory in the average daily incidence rates and percent positivity rates.

In Greater-Lowell, Dracut adds to the list of other communities, including Billerica, Burlington, Chelmsford, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro, Westford and Wilmington, removed from the high-risk list. Though Lowell still remains classified as high risk for COVID-19 transmission, recent data has shown encouraging trends. Lowell’s percent positivity rate over the last two weeks is 4.28%, down from its peak this year of 10.42%, reported on Jan. 12. With the slow but increasing inoculation of the state’s high-risk population and the continued adherence to social distancing and hygiene guidelines, we’ve managed to gain the upper hand in containing this virus — for now.

But vigilance remains the watchword as we continue this quest to return to some sense of pre- COVID normalcy.

The list of the remaining high-risk communities shows a mix of urban centers and suburbs, which indicates keeping this virus in check remains everyone’s responsibility, especially now that the governor has allowed the partial reopening of many businesses statewide.