Virus hits next generation
Positive test rates for the coronavirus are falling in several communities that bore the brunt of the pandemic in Massachusetts, but at least one city is now seeing cases rise among the younger set. See the town by town stats Revere Mayor Brian Arrigo told the Herald cases are growing among those ages 20 to 39 in his city — mirroring an alarming trend seen in places across the country where infections are spiking.
“Knowing what’s happening across the country and knowing that age group kind of views itself as lower risk and more willing to take risk with their activities, it’s concerning,” Arrigo said. “We’re no different than anywhere else, where if you have people who are 20 to 39 years old they’re most likely going to be taking risks and they’re going to end up positive.”
From May to June, people ages 20 to 39 made up 35% of all confirmed coronavirus cases in Revere. From June to July, that jumped to 50%, according to the city.
Revere now plans to run public health ads on social media to better target the younger generation.
“We want to make sure they’re doing their part to protect their parents and their grandparents and the people who are most vulnerable,” Arrigo said.
At the same time, Revere’s positive test rate dropped to 4.14% this week from 5.54% in the two-week period ending last Wednesday, according to weekly data from the state Department of Public Health.
Of the eight communities where the Baker administration rolled out additional coronavirus testing last week, all but one reported declines in their 14-day positivity rates this week.
Chelsea, which had the highest cumulative infection rate in the commonwealth since January, saw its 14-day positivity rate fall to 4.72% this week from 7.46% last week.
Lawrence dropped to 6.32% from 7.05%; Everett fell to 1.86% from 4.47%; Lowell dropped to 2.97% from 4.1%; Lynn ticked down to 4.19% from 4.81%; Marlboro went to 1.75% from 2.7% and New Bedford to 4.13% from 5.7%.
Fall River ticked up to 6.25% from 6.17%, while the state average ticked down to 1.91% from 2.25%.
“We remain on a positive trajectory,” Chelsea City Manager Tom Ambrosino said Wednesday. “Our daily numbers are down. In fact, last night, we had no cases — that’s only happened a handful of times.”
In Brockton, which had the state’s second-highest cumulative infection rate, 14-day positivity ticked down to 3.91% from 4.87%.
“Even though the numbers are starting to reflect where we want to be, we know that in a heartbeat it could go in the wrong direction,” Brockton Mayor Robert Sullivan said. “We don’t want to take our foot off the pedal.”
Boston’s positivity rate was 2.31% this week, a slight uptick from 2.27% the week prior.