‘Red zone’ communities pile on
Nearly half of Bay State locations classed this week as high-risk
Nearly half of the Bay State’s 351 cities and towns are now in the high-risk “red” zone for coronavirus transmission — painting a bleak portrait of the virus in Massachusetts as local officials warn the worst is yet to come.
A record-breaking 158 communities landed in the red zone this week, according to the Department of Public Health, up from 97 last week.
“The governor used the term ‘skyrocketing’ — that is accurate,” Worcester Health Commissioner Dr. Matilde “Mattie” Castiel said. “We have not yet hit our peak. That could come by early, mid-January. And already we are seeing case numbers exceeding what we saw during the first wave.”
Many of the state’s major cities are now red. Boston was among the 92 municipalities that were “yellow” for moderate-risk.
Castiel said hospitals are being overburdened. Thirty patients are being treated at the DCU Center field hospital in Worcester. Revere Mayor Brian Arrigo said “the numbers are bleak.”
Brockton Mayor Robert Sullivan called the ongoing post-Thanksgiving surge “very frightening.”
The high-risk communities are: Abington, Acushnet, Agawam, Amesbury, Andover, Ashland, Attleboro, Auburn, Avon, Ayer, Barnstable, Bellingham, Berkley, Billerica, Blackstone, Boxford, Boylston, Bridgewater, Brockton, Burlington, Carver, Charlton, Chelmsford, Chelsea, Chicopee, Clinton, Concord, Danvers, Dartmouth, Dighton, Douglas, Dover, Dracut, Dudley, East Bridgewater, Edgartown, Everett, Fairhaven, Fall River, Fitchburg, Framingham, Freetown, Gardner, Georgetown, Gloucester, Grafton, Granby, Groveland, Halifax, Hamilton, Hanover, Hanson, Harwich, Haverhill, Holbrook, Holden, Holyoke, Hopedale and Hudson.
Lakeville, Lancaster, Lawrence, Leicester, Lenox, Leominster, Littleton, Lowell, Ludlow, Lunenburg, Lynn, Lynnfield, Malden, Manchester, Mansfield, Marion, Marlboro, Marshfield, Mattapoisett, Melrose, Mendon, Merrimac, Methuen, Middleboro, Middleton, Milford, Millbury, Millis, Montague, Nantucket, New Bedford, Norfolk, North Andover, North Attleboro, North Brookfield, Northboro, Norton, Norwood, Oxford, Palmer, Peabody, Pembroke, Pittsfield, Plainville, Plymouth, Quincy, Randolph, Raynham, Rehoboth, Revere, Rochester, Rockland, Rowley and Rutland.
Salem, Salisbury, Saugus, Seekonk, Shirley, Shrewsbury, Somerset, Southampton, Southboro, Southbridge, Southwick, Spencer, Springfield, Sterling, Stoneham, Stoughton, Sturbridge, Sutton, Swansea, Taunton, Tewksbury, Topsfield, Townsend, Tyngsboro, Upton, Uxbridge, Wakefield, Walpole, Wareham, Webster, West Boylston, West Bridgewater, West Springfield, Westfield, Westford, Westminster, Westport, Weymouth, Whitman, Wilbraham, Wilmington, Winthrop, Woburn, Worcester and Yarmouth.