COVID-19 Update for JP City of Boston Enters ‘Red’ Category on State Map

     Jamaica Plain saw a 3.3 percent increase in the COVID-19 infection rate since Sept. 18 but is still below the citywide average.

     According to Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) data released last Friday, Jamaica Plain’s infection rate went from 204.8 cases per 10,000 residents to 211.7 cases per 10,000 residents. However, Jamaica Plain remains several points under the citywide infection rate average which is now at 244 cases per 10,000 residents. 

     Twenty-eight more Jamaica Plain residents became infected with COVID-19 in the past two weeks and the number of total cases here went from 827 cases two weeks ago to 855 cases last week.

     Of the 14,807 Jamaica Plain residents tested 4.5 percent were found to be COVID positive, up from the 2.6 percent reported on Sept. 18, this is a 73 percent increase in those testing positive for the virus in the neighborhood. Since testing began in the neighborhood 4.8 percent of Jamaica Plain residents have been found to be COVID positive.

     The statistics released by the BPHC as part of its weekly COVID19 report breaks down the number of cases and infection rates in each neighborhood. It also breaks down the number of cases by age, gender and race.

     Citywide positive cases of coronavirus rose by 0.3 percent last week from 17,649 cases to 17,774 confirmed cases. So far 14,98 Boston residents have fully recovered from the virus and the total number of fatalities in the city remained at 764.

     During his daily press briefing on the virus last Friday, Walsh said Boston had entered the “red” category on the state map on Wednesday, September 30.

     “That means Boston is seeing eight or more daily cases per 100,000 population,” said Walsh. He said this move was expected, but to note that this map is based on one metric–raw number of cases per day.

     “We’re also looking at the positive test rate and the hospital data and trends over time,” he said. “Everyone must focus on what we can do to keep the activity down, and that is part of living with the virus. While the City is bringing resources and information to where it’s needed, we also need everyone’s help. That especially includes our young adults, among whom we continue to see the most cases. If you have to go to work, if you live in a large household, or if you’re running a business, the City has resources and information that can help you stay safe.”

     He said that every single person, in every neighborhood, must continue to follow the guidelines the City has laid out, because they’ve been proven to work.”

     Those include wearing a mask; washing your hands; keeping six feet of distance as much as possible, and having your mask on if you’re unsure if you’re keeping that distance; and following all the guidelines for your industry, or your college or workplace.

The Mayor also urged people to not go to gatherings, especially not to house parties or cookouts where people are mingling.

“This is where we are seeing most of the transmission right now,” said Walsh. “We must all make smart choices to protect our health, our family’s health, and the health of our community.”

Then on Wednesday, Mayor Walsh  invited Chief of Health and Human Services Marty Martinez to share the latest COVID-19 data in Boston during a press conference.

Chief Martinez said that since the beginning of the pandemic, the Administration has been committed to sharing data with residents in a timely and transparent manner, including at both boston.gov/coronavirus and bphc.org.

“The average number of positive tests increased over the previous week, from 65.6 to 73.0 per day, and the average positive test rate was 4.1%, up from 3.6%,” said Martinez. “We continue to respond to this activity with testing resources, with outreach in multiple languages, and with door-to-door and business-to-business outreach in communities seeing the biggest increases. This is the first time since early June that the citywide positive test rate has surpassed 4%, our threshold for reassessing where we stand with reopening. The Administration has been consulting with our experts at the Boston Public Health Commission and at the state about what kind of guidance this data calls for.”

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