Last week, the COVID-19 infection rate in East Boston increased by over five and a half percent, and residents testing positive for the virus increased by nearly 45 percent.
For a second week in a row the neighborhood has been at the top of the city’s list as a virus transmission ‘hotspots’. With COVID spikes in neighboring Revere, Chelsea, Lynn and Everett, Eastie’s rise in infections mimics those happening on the North Shore more so than Boston.
The infection rate has been steadily climbing since late July. The week over week infection rate rose by only 1.7 percent in early August but then jumped by 3.6 percent two weeks ago.
According to the latest data released by the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) on Friday, Eastie’s COVID infection rate went from 397.2 cases per 10,000 residents to 419.8 cases per 10,000 residents. The citywide average is 221 cases per 10,000 residents, an increase of two percent from the 216.3 cases per 10,000 resident average reported last week.
As of Friday 106 more people became infected with the virus in Eastie and there were 1,970 confirmed COVID-19 cases. This was a 5.5 percent increase from the 1,864 cases reported by the BPHC two weeks ago.
As of Last week the BPHC reported that 11,659 residents were tested for COVID-19 and the data shows that 11.4 percent of those tested were COVID positive–an increase of 44 percent since last week when only 7.9 percent were testing positive for the virus.
Overall since the pandemic began 17.7 percent of Eastie’s population tested were found to be positive.
Last week, Mayor Martin Walsh reiterated how important it is for everyone in the Boston community to remain vigilant and continue to wash their hands frequently, avoid large gatherings, practice social distancing, and wear a mask. The Mayor said that the City of Boston will continue to be proactive in its efforts to contain the virus with testing, outreach, resources, and information in all needed languages and formats.
However, while the Mayor pointed out that Boston proper remains ‘yellow’ under the state’s new maps that highlight COVID spikes, Eastie is surrounded by North Shore cities and towns that are now in the ‘red’ according to the state map. .
Some argue Eastie residents have been having more contact with residents living in places like Revere, Lynn, Chelsea and Everett (all in the red) than they would with residents in say West Roxbury thus providing more opportunity for exposure.
The statistics released by the BPHC as part of its weekly COVID19 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.
Citywide positive cases of coronavirus rose 2.1 percent last week from 14,916 cases to 15,232 cases. So far 11,418 Boston residents have fully recovered from the virus and two additional residents died last week bringing the total of fatalities in the city to 748.