Three weeks ago, the Back Bay and the surrounding area’s COVID weekly positive test rate skyrocketed nearly 50 percent but positive cases have dropped for two weeks in a row. Two weeks ago the weekly positive test rate fell 37 percent and another 25 percent last week.
According to the weekly report released Monday by the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), 2,376 Back Bay, Beacon Hill, North End, West End and Downtown residents were tested and 1.8 percent were positive. This was a 25 percent decrease from the 2.4 percent of residents that tested positive between September 20 and September 27.
Citywide, the weekly positive test rate also decreased and dropped 10 percent last week. According to the BPHC 24,496 residents were tested and 2.7 percent were COVID positive–this was a 10 percent decrease from the 3 percent reported by the BPHC on Sept. 27.
The BPHC data released Monday showed Back Bay, Beacon Hill, North End, West End and Downtown had an infection rate of 771.6 cases per 10,000 residents–a 1.5 percent increase from the 760.5 cases per 10,000 residents reported on September 27.
Sixt-two additional residents have been infected with the virus between September 27 and October 4 and the total number of cases in the area increased to 4,300 cases overall since the pandemic began.
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 increased 1 percent since Sept. 27 and went from 80,106 cases to 80,971 confirmed cases in a week. There were nine additional deaths in Boston from the virus in the past week and the total COVID deaths is now at 1,429.