East Boston’s COVID-19 positive test rate decreased for a second week in a row and the infection rate rose by only 2.6 percent, but health experts warn these numbers could increase dramatically as Boston and surrounding communities are experiencing spikes in the virus.
According to the data released by the Boston Public Health Commission Friday, Eastie’s COVID infection rate rose only 2.6 percent and went from 525 cases per 10,000 residents to 538.7 cases per 10,000 residents. The last increase two weeks ago was 1.8 percent. The citywide average is 271.5.cases per 10,000 residents, and Eastie still has one of the highest infection rates in all of Boston.
Eastie experienced an all-time high with an 11.8 percent positive test rate back in August, but efforts by the city and health officials brought that number down to 5.1 percent.
However, a month ago the positive test-rate number climbed to 6.1 percent and, three weeks ago, jumped 44 percent to 8.8. The positive infection rate reported last week was at 5.4 percent.
As of Friday 64 more residents became infected with the virus in Eastie, and there were 2,528 confirmed COVID-19 cases, up from the 2,464 reported by the BPHC two weeks ago.
Of the 19,021 Eastie residents tested for COVID last week 5.4 percent were found to be positive for the virus, a decrease of 17 percent from the numbers reported two weeks ago. The citywide positive test rate climbed from 4.1 percent to 4.5 percent over the course of last week.
Overall since the pandemic began 13.7 percent of residents here have been found to be positive.
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 by 5 percent last week from 17,937 cases to 18,834 confirmed cases. So far 16,110 Boston residents have fully recovered from the virus and 8 additional Boston residents died last week–bringing the total number of fatalities in the city remains to 771.
At his daily press briefing last week Mayor Martin Walsh said parts of Dorchester, Hyde Park and Mattapan are emerging as new COVID hotspots.
“Among neighborhoods, the 02121 and 02125 zip codes of Dorchester, as well as Hyde Park and Mattapan, were the neighborhoods with the highest positive rates,” said Walsh. “East Boston and the 02122 and 02124 zip codes of Dorchester saw their rates go down, but remain above the citywide average. Roxbury remains above the citywide average as well.”
The Mayor said that, overall, the numbers we are seeing in positive tests and hospital admissions are numbers the city has not seen since June, when Boston was coming down from the peak of COVID-19 cases.
“In response, we are strengthening our focus on prevention, community outreach, and support while also developing enforcement strategies for COVID guidelines,” he said.