todata released today by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health
<https://www.mass.gov/doc/weekly-covid-19-public-health-report-february-18-2021/download>
Average daily new cases declined to 28.6 per 100,000 population, and
positivity dropped to 3.16%.
Number of tests administered to Framingham residents rose from the prior
14-day period, even as number of cases declined.
Framingham was below the state’s average of 30 new cases per 100K but
its test positivity was higher than the state-wide 2.7%.
This data is more good news, especially since Framingham had been
substantially higher than state and area averages for months. However, I
remain concerned about whether there’s enough testing being done among
the city’s highest risk population in low-income, high-density areas of
downtown. That’s a concern for many obvious reasons, including whether
city officials use overall averages to decide on the safety of in-person
schooling, without knowing whether there are still hot spots flaring in
some neighborhoods.
Former city health director Dr. Samuel Wong had lobbied for free state
testing in Framingham in part because high infection rates in some lower
income neighborhoods were being masked by less worrisome city-wide
averages. And while the city is fortunate to still have a free testing
center, the location moved to a Framingham State University parking lot
and requires a car. Free walk-in testing downtown closed in December.
In addition, the city’s total number of reported cases in the last seven
days is still above the CDC’s new school guideline levels of 100 or more
per 100K for “highest risk of transmission.” The city had about 187 per
100,000 people.
Framingham’slatest Covid-19 demographic report
<https://www.framinghamma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/41235/COVID-19-Data-021721-FINAL>
by the city this week said the median age of those infected by the virus
this year was 35. The median age of those who died from the virus was 74.
Elsewhere in Massachusetts
Most MetroWest communities are now out of the red zone. You can see
known Covid-19 infections per capita elsewhere in Massachusetts in a map
and table posted on District2Framingham.com.
<http://www.district2framingham.com/2021/02/18/framingham-covid-19-levels-down-further-city-remains-in-yellow-zone/>
I also update graphs between weekly posts at myFramingham Covid-19 site
<http://apps.machlis.com/shiny/framingham_covid/>
Massachusetts data site <http://apps.machlis.com/shiny/ma_corona_virus/>