Melrose COVID Numbers, Already Low, Double As Virus Rebounds

MELROSE, MA — It appeared as if COVID-19 had bottomed out, not just here but across Massachusetts.

But COVID-19 is back, and while the pandemic's darkest days are still far behind us, there are shades of 2020 beginning to emerge.

Melrose's two-week numbers went from fewer than five in last week's report to nine in this week's. The 14-percent positive test rate went from .25 percent to .50 percent. The average daily incidence rate went from 1 to 2.2.

To be clear, the metrics released in Thursday's Department of Public Health report are not high. But after weeks of many in town seemingly moving past the virus, numbers aren't heading in the right direction, either.

The same is true in the rest of Massachusetts, which reported 477 cases yesterday — the highest since before Gov. Charlie Baker replaced the mask mandate with an advisory.

Cambridge yesterday joined Provincetown and Nantucket in re-issuing mask advisories amid a significant uptick in cases.

There is no indication the Melrose Health Department in considering a mask advisory. A Friday morning call to Health Director Elaine Silva went to voicemail. Patch will update this story if it hears back.

Gov. Charlie Baker said Thursday the state isn't planning on changing any COVID rules.

Three out of every four Melrosians have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. While "breakthrough" cases are still happening — more than 40 percent of Cambridge's confirmed cases this month were of fully vaccinated people — severe cases are almost exclusively happening to people who are unvaccinated.

Mike Carraggi can be reached at mike.carraggi@patch.com. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi. Subscribe to Melrose Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook