BOSTON (WHDH) - The Massachusetts Department of Public Health released an updated list on Thursday detailing the number of coronavirus cases in cities and towns across the Commonwealth.
In an attempt to guide schools and businesses through the state’s phased reopening plan, the colors were previously based on an area’s average virus rate out of 100,000 people.
However, many communities across the Bay State do not reach the 100,000 resident threshold. This prompted health officials to revamp the color-coding system based on population size and positivity rate.
One hundred and ninety cities and towns now fall in the Department of Public Health’s highest-risk category for COVID-19 transmission under the state’s new guidelines, up from the 188 that were reported last week.
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The high-risk communities include:
- Abington
- Acushnet
- Agawam
- Amesbury
- Andover
- Ashburnham
- Ashland
- Athol
- Attleboro
- Auburn
- Avon
- Ayer
- Barnstable
- Bellingham
- Berkley
- Beverly
- Billerica
- Blackstone
- Boston
- Boxford
- Boylston
- Braintree
- Bridgewater
- Brockton
- Brookfield
- Burlington
- Canton
- Carver
- Charlton
- Chelmsford
- Chelsea
- Chicopee
- Clinton
- Cohasset
- Danvers
- Dartmouth
- Dedham
- Dennis
- Dighton
- Douglas
- Dover
- Dracut
- Dudley
- East Bridgewater
- East Longmeadow
- Easton
- Everett
- Fairhaven
- Fall River
- Fitchburg
- Foxborough
- Framingham
- Franklin
- Freetown
- Gardner
- Georgetown
- Grafton
- Granby
- Groveland
- Hadley
- Halifax
- Hamilton
- Hanover
- Hanson
- Haverhill
- Holbrook
- Holden
- Holliston
- Holyoke
- Hopedale
- Hudson
- Hull
- Ipswich
- Kingston
- Lakeville
- Lancaster
- Lawrence
- Lee
- Leicester
- Leominster
- Littleton
- Longmeadow
- Lowell
- Ludlow
- Lunenburg
- Lynn
- Lynnfield
- Malden
- Manchester
- Mansfield
- Marlborough
- Marshfield
- Mashpee
- Mattapoisett
- Melrose
- Merrimac
- Methuen
- Middleborough
- Middleton
- Milford
- Milton
- Monson
- Montague
- Nantucket
- New Bedford
- Newbury
- Newburyport
- Norfolk
- North Andover
- North Attleboro
- North Brookfield
- North Reading
- Norton
- Norwell
- Norwood
- Orange
- Oxford
- Palmer
- Paxton
- Peabody
- Pembroke
- Pepperell
- Plainville
- Plymouth
- Quincy
- Randolph
- Raynham
- Reading
- Rehoboth
- Revere
- Rochester
- Rockland
- Rockport
- Rowley
- Rutland
- Salem
- Salisbury
- Saugus
- Scituate
- Seekonk
- Shirley
- Shrewsbury
- Somerset
- South Hadley
- Southampton
- Southborough
- Southbridge
- Southwick
- Spencer
- Springfield
- Sterling
- Stoneham
- Stoughton
- Sturbridge
- Sutton
- Swampscott
- Swansea
- Taunton
- Templeton
- Tewksbury
- Topsfield
- Townsend
- Tyngsborough
- Upton
- Uxbridge
- Wakefield
- Walpole
- Waltham
- Ware
- Wareham
- Webster
- Wenham
- West Boylston
- West Bridgewater
- West Brookfield
- West Springfield
- Westfield
- Westford
- Westminster
- Westport
- Weymouth
- Whitman
- Wilbraham
- Wilmington
- Winchendon
- Winthrop
- Woburn
- Worcester
- Wrentham
- Yarmouth
The Department of Public Health has begun releasing information on the number of cases and contacts associated with clusters of infection in certain settings including households, organized sports, retail settings and social gatherings.
The average age of COVID-19 patients is 41, according to the report, with the 20 to 29-year-old age range reporting the highest amount of cases.
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Since last week, 465 more college students have tested positive bringing the total number of cases associated with higher education to 6,238.
The report also states that 151,494 people have completed their quarantine to date and 28,882 are still undergoing theirs.
Click here to view a full town-by-town breakdown of data for all 351 communities in the Commonwealth.
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