Medford Remains Moderate Risk As Coronavirus Cases Rise

MEDFORD, MA — Medford is still considered at moderate risk for the coronavirus, according to weekly state data released Wednesday.

Sixty-three communities across the Commonwealth have been designated as high risk, up 23 from last week. Medford remained in the moderate-risk range with an average daily rate of 6.69 cases per 100,000, up from 5.9 last week, according to state data.

State officials have said that high-risk communities, along with those considered high risk in the past 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 day per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks.

Medford's percent positivity rate over two weeks held relatively steady at 0.47 percent. There were 57 cases in the city during that time, bringing the total case count to 1,301.

The state reported 518 new cases and 16 deaths Wednesday. The positive test rate rose to 1.3 percent statewide, up from 0.8 percent in mid-September. 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.

Statewide, there were 8.7 average daily cases per 100,000 residents, putting the state above the high-risk threshold for the first time since the metric was introduced. There have been 9,429 deaths and 138,083 confirmed cases statewide since the pandemic reached the Bay State in March.

View the state's interactive COVID-19 map.