Eastie COVID Cases, Infection Rates Rise: City Partners With EBNHC to Expand Testing

As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, East Boston has emerged as one of the city’s ‘Hotspots’ and Mayor Martin Walsh is urging residents to heed the call to stay home.

In one week, East Boston’s COVID-19 infection rate rose from 50.7 cases per 10,000 residents to an alarming infection rate of 87.4 cases per 10,000 as of Friday.

As of Friday there were 410 238 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Eastie, up from the 238 cases reported by the Boston Public Health Commission a week ago.

The statistcs released by the BPHC as part of its weekly COVID-19 report breaks down the number of cases and infection rates in each neighborhood. It also breaks down the number of cases by age, gender and race.

Eastie now has the sixth highest infection rate in the City of Boston behind Hyde Park (120.7), South End (104), Mattapan (100.7), Roslindale (89.4) and Dorchester (87.85).

As of Monday, the BPHC’s data shows that of the 142 deaths in Boston where race is known  41 percent are white, 30 percent are black, 12 percent are Asian or Pacific Islander, 11 percent are Latino, and six percent are identified as other.

Walsh said the Boston’s COVID-19 Health Inequities Task Force meets regularly and is identifying key strategies to address inequities including expanded testng, data sharing and analysis, and strengthening neighborhood outreach.

As a whole Boston has 5,749 positive cases of coronavirus and so far 1,044 of these 5,749 residents have fully recovered. There have been 187 COVID-19 related deaths in Boston residents.

“We urge everyone to stay home, avoid contact with others and observe the recommended curfew of 9 p.m.-6 a.m.,” said Walsh. “If you must go outside for an essential task, we urge you to wear a face covering and stay 6ft away from others. Make sure to wash your hands often and clean and sanitize high-contact surfaces frequently.”

Walsh said the City has partnered with the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center to expand COVID-19 testing.

As of Monday EBNHC is offering COVID-19 testing seven days a week to any community residents who have flu-like symptoms or have been in contact with someone who is COVID-19 positive.  Residents who are EBNHC patients must call EBNHC at 617-569-5800 to pre-register for screening and testing at their two new EBNHC patient testing sites. Patients who arrive without pre-registration will not be tested.

Testing includes a walk-through location at 79 Paris Street from 8 a.m. to noon daily; a drive through location at Suffolk Downs, 525 William F. McClellan Highway from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. daily; and at EBNHC’s emergency department (open 24 hours) at 10 Gove Street for those experiencing influenza-like illness.

“We created a Testing Access Map to make it easier for residents to find and contact a testing site near them,” said Walsh. “It includes locations, hours, and phone numbers and websites of testing locations. It will be updated as new testing sites come online. The goal is to have every community health center able to provide testing to residents in the neighborhood. Starting Monday, we will be able to start sharing data on testing at the neighborhood level. New reports will include the number of people tested, and positive testing rates, for each neighborhood.”

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