With the Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus running rampant across the U.S. and recent infections in Boston traced back to an outbreak in Provincetown over July 4th weekend, East Boston and the rest of the city have seen breakthrough infections among vaccinated people skyrocket.
Eastie was one of the hardest hit neighborhoods during the height of the pandemic but targeted vaccination efforts reduced positive cases among Eastie residents to almost non-existent levels a few months ago.
However, it seems the party is over as the weekly positive test rate continues to climb in the neighborhood. Just the other day the Quiet Few on Sumner Street was alerted to a customer who had recently tested positive for the virus and was forced to close its doors until all the staff tested negative for COVID.
Last week, 1,131 Eastie residents were tested for the virus last week and 2.7 percent were positive–this was an increase of another 50 percent from the 1.8 percent reported by the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) two weeks ago.
Of the 45,056 Eastie residents tested for COVID since the pandemic began, 17.4 percent overall were found to be positive for the virus. This was a decrease of 0.57 percent from the 17.5 percent reported by the BPHC two weeks ago.
Citywide, the weekly positive test rate increased over 30 percent. According to the BPHC 15,872 residents were tested and 2.9 percent were COVID positive–this was a 32 percent increase from the 2.2 percent reported by the BPHC two weeks ago.
Eastie’s COVID infection rate increased only 0.42 percent and the rate went from 1,660.8 cases per 10,000 residents to 1,667.7 cases per 10,000 residents.
Thirty-two additional residents contracted the virus between July 16 and July 23 and there are now 7,826 confirmed cases in the neighborhood since the start of the pandemic. Eastie positive cases last week represent a little over 5 percent of all the new cases in Boston.
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 0.80 percent since July 16 and went from 71,846 cases to 72,422 confirmed cases in a week. Four additional Boston residents died from the virus in the past two weeks and there are now 1,400 total deaths in the city from COVID.