Two weeks after Mayor Michelle Wu and Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) Executive Director Dr. Bisola Ojikutu announced that the City’s “B Together” policy, which requires patrons and staff of certain indoor spaces to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19, would be lifted–new infections remain low in East Boston and the rest of the city.
New infections are so low in fact that the BPHC voted unanimously last Tuesday to lift the city’s indoor mask mandate for indoor venues, which began Saturday.
According to the BPHC 12,478 residents were tested citywide last week and 2.3 percent were COVID positive–this was a 36 percent decrease from the 3.6 percent that reportedly tested positive for the week ending on February 28. The weekly positive test rate has now decreased 50 percent in Boston since February 21.
“I’m grateful that our city is ready to take this step in our recovery thanks to the hard work and commitment of residents keeping our communities safe over many, many months,” said Mayor Wu. “As we continue to make progress even while living with COVID, Boston will continue leading on public health to keep our communities safe, healthy, and prepared.”
Last week, 675 Eastie residents were tested for the virus last week and 2.1 percent were positive–this was a 49 percent decrease from the 4.1 percent that tested positive as reported by the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) on February 28. The weekly positive test rate has now decreased 59 percent in Eastie since February 21.
Fourteen additional Eastie residents contracted the virus between February 28 and March 4 and there are now 14,192 confirmed cases in the neighborhood since the start of the pandemic.
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 increased 0.52 percent last week and went from 165,226 cases to 166,087 confirmed since the start of the pandemic.
There were 9 additional deaths in Boston from the virus in the past week and the total COVID deaths is now at 1,727. Deaths decreased 57 percent in Boston last week with 12 less deaths compared to the 21 deaths reported by the BPHC two weeks ago.