Malden's Coronavirus Risk Level Rises To High

MALDEN, MA — Malden has been labeled a high-risk community for the coronavirus by the state, according to the latest town-by-town data released Wednesday by the Department of Public Health.

Malden is among 40 communities across the Commonwealth that have been designated high risk, up from just 23 last week. The city now falls in the red zone with an average daily rate of 10.44 cases per 100,000.

"Red got my attention and I’m hoping it gets yours!" Mayor Gary Christenson wrote on Twitter Wednesday night. The city confirmed there have been 66 cases in the past week, bringing the total number to 1,596.

State officials have said that high-risk communities, along with those considered high risk in the previous two updates, cannot move on to the next phase of reopening. Towns were marked high risk, or red, if they reported more than eight confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks.

Malden's percent positivity is 1.86 percent. Neighboring Medford, which has hovered in the yellow for weeks, has a percent positivity rate of 0.42 percent. But Malden also sits on the edge of a cluster of cities and towns that have been consistently labeled red, including Revere, Chelsea and Everett.

The positive test rate statewide was 1.1 percent Wednesday, up from 0.8 percent in early September. State health officials reported 509 new coronavirus cases and 19 new deaths. There have been 9,342 deaths and 133,868 confirmed cases statewide since the pandemic reached Massachusetts in March.

Health officials say positive test results need to stay below 5 percent for two weeks or longer and, preferably, be closer to 2 percent, for states to safely ease restrictions.

The positive test rate over the past two weeks increased in about half of the communities in the state.

View the state's interactive COVID-19 map.