Ayer returns to high risk list
» Ayer has returned to the list of communities classified as at “high risk” for coronavirus transmission as data provided by health officials show the number of active cases statewide continues to tick upward.
According to the state Department of Public Health, there were an estimated 37,707 active COVID-19 cases statewide as of Thursday — a spike from last week’s total of 28,078. The number of active cases has been rising since a low point of 25,937 reported by health officials on March 17.
The concerning trend caught the attention of Scott Gottlieb, a member of Gov. Charlie Baker’s COVID-19 Advisory Board, who tweeted about the figures on Sunday.
“Michigan, Massachusetts, and the New York tri-state region remain some of the areas of greatest concern, where Covid cases are beginning to surge again,” Gotlieb said in the tweet.
The DPH also announced 2,455 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Massachusetts on Thursday, bringing the statewide total since January to 600,632. There were another 32 confirmed deaths from the virus reported in Massachusetts on Thursday, bringing the death toll statewide to
16,876, with another 341 deaths classified as most likely linked to the virus.
On Thursday, the DPH also announced there were 700 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, including 166 patients in intensive care units statewide and 86 patients who were intubated.
Ayer was added to the state’s weekly list of communities at high risk for coronavirus transmission, following a trend across the state.
Eight weeks ago, the total number of communities classified as high risk statewide was 153. The number of cities and towns on the list dropped to just 14 on March 4, according to DPH data. The number of communities classified as high risk has increased each week since that date, reaching 55 communities as of Thursday’s figures.
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%. Each category is based on the previous 14 days of data.
Ayer’s average daily incidence rate per 100,000 people during the last two weeks is 22.9, while the town’s percent positivity rate during that time period is 2.4%.
Fitchburg and Leominster remain absent from the high-risk list, after both cities were declassified in February, according to the data.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention re
ported 64,149 new cases of COVID-19 nationwide on Thursday, bringing the total to about 30.28 million cases since the pandemic began. The CDC also announced the virus’ nationwide death toll was 549,098 as of Thursday, an increase of roughly 6,514 deaths since last Thursday.
According to the CDC, there have been 153,631,404 vaccines administered nationwide as of Thursday. About 30% of the population has received a first dose, while 16.9% of the population has been fully vaccinated.
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 – 369 (+6)
: Ashby – 152 (+2)
: Ayer – 791 (+12)
: Fitchburg – 4,352 (+59)
: Gardner – 2,164 (+35)
: Groton – 465 (+26)
: Lancaster – 503 (+9)
: Leominster – 4,644 (+60)
: Lunenburg – 675 (+17)
: Pepperell – 476 (+16)
: Princeton – 137 (+2)
: Rutland – 571 (+10)
: Shirley – 795 (+3)
: Sterling – 648 (+7)
: Townsend – 410 (+7)
: Westminster – 498 (+11)