Massachusetts Coronavirus: State Releases Town-By-Town Case Count

BOSTON — The Massachusetts Department of Public Health released town-by-town data on the new coronavirus Wednesday for the first time since the pandemic started.

The data, which will be updated weekly, includes confirmed coronavirus for all 317 Massachusetts towns and cities, except for communities with populations under 50,000 or with fewer than five cases. The department said the stipulation was designed to protect the privacy of patients in those towns and cities.

Zoom in on the map below and click on a pin to see that town's coronavirus case data. You can also view the town-by-town coronavirus data in the spreadsheet we used to create this map.

The map does not include 506 of the state's 29,918 cases because state health officials could not determine which town the patient lived in.

State health officials on Wednesday revealed 151 new deaths related to the coronavirus, announcing the highest daily death toll yet just hours after Gov. Charlie Baker said Massachusetts is "in the surge" of the pandemic.

Total deaths are now at 1,108. The Department of Public Health also said there were 1,755 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, increasing the total to 29,918.

There were 5,742 new tests conducted for a total of 132,023.

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The Department of Public Health had been resisting reporting the number of cases in individual municipalities, a stance that led to confusion in some cities.

Earlier this month, Patch began compiling data from the cities and towns that have been releasing the number of cases and published updated maps of the data each day. Patch also filed a public records request with the Department of Health for the data. That request became moot when the department released the data publicly Wednesday, a day before it said it would fulfill Patch’s request.

More coronavirus coverage on Massachusetts Patch:

• Coronavirus Death Toll May Be Higher Than Official Count
• 296 Prisoners Released After High Court Coronavirus Ruling
• Massachusetts Lawmakers Warn Of Possible Depression
• Mapping Massachusetts Coronavirus: Where Are State's ICU Beds?

Dave Copeland writes for Patch and can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).