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.
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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 fifty-three 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, down from the 192 that were reported last week.
The high-risk communities include:
- Abington
- Acushnet
- Adams
- Agawam
- Ashburnham
- Attleboro
- Auburn
- Avon
- Ayer
- Barnstable
- Barre
- Bellingham
- Berkley
- Berlin
- Blackstone
- Boxford
- Boylston
- Braintree
- Brewster
- Bridgewater
- Brockton
- Canton
- Carver
- Charlton
- Chatham
- Chelmsford
- Chelsea
- Chicopee
- Clinton
- Cohasset
- Dartmouth
- Dedham
- Dennis
- Dighton
- Douglas
- Dracut
- East Bridgewater
- Edgartown
- Everett
- Fairhaven
- Fall River
- Fitchburg
- Foxboro
- Framingham
- Freetown
- Gardner
- Georgetown
- Granby
- Great Barrington
- Groveland
- Halifax
- Hamilton
- Hampden
- Hanover
- Hanson
- Harwich
- Haverhill
- Holbrook
- Holyoke
- Hopedale
- Hudson
- Hull
- Kingston
- Lakeville
- Lancaster
- Lawrence
- Leominster
- Littleton
- Lowell
- Ludlow
- Lunenburg
- Lynn
- Lynnfield
- Malden
- Mansfield
- Marion
- Marlboro
- Marshfield
- Maynard
- Mendon
- Merrimac
- Methuen
- Middleboro
- Middleton
- Milford
- Milbury
- Millis
- Monson
- Nahant
- Nantucket
- New Bedford
- North Attleboro
- North Brookfield
- Norton
- Norwood
- Oak Bluffs
- Orleans
- Oxford
- Palmer
- Paxton
- Peabody
- Pembroke
- Pepperell
- Plainville
- Plymouth
- Quincy
- Randolph
- Raynham
- Rehoboth
- Revere
- Rochester
- Rockland
- Rutland
- Salisbury
- Sandwich
- Saugus
- Seekonk
- Shirley
- Somerset
- Southampton
- Southboro
- Soutbridge
- Southwick
- Spencer
- Springfield
- Sterling
- Stoughton
- Sutton
- Swansea
- Templeton
- Taunton
- Topsfield
- Townshend
- Tynsgsboro
- Uxbridge
- Wakefield
- Walpole
- Wareham
- Webster
- West Boyleston
- West Bridgewater
- West Brookfield
- West Springfield
- Westfield
- Westminster
- Westport
- Westwood
- Weymouth
- Whitman
- Winchendon
- Winthrop
- Worcester
- Wrentham
The Department of Public Health also releases 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 report also states that 217,093 people have completed their quarantine to date and 20,776 are still undergoing theirs.
Click here to view a full town-by-town breakdown of data for all 351 communities in the Commonwealth.
Click here for more coronavirus coverage.
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