With summer in full swing and many residents enjoying numerous fun in the sun activities, health officials are bracing for another summer surge as the omicron sub variants of the COVID-19 virus are again spreading rapidly.
After weeks of progress knocking down COVID infections through increased vaccination efforts and public awareness campaigns the numbers are once again on the rise.
However, according to the latest data by the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) Back Bay and the surrounding area’s weekly COVID infection rate decreased slightly last week.
Last week, 921 Back Bay, Beacon Hill, North End, West End and Downtown residents were tested for the virus last week and 9.9 percent were positive–this was a 10 percent increase from the 11 percent that tested positive between June 20 and June 27.
Ninety one additional residents contracted the virus between June 27 and July 4 and there have now been 11,423 confirmed cases in the neighborhood since the start of the pandemic.
Boston’s citywide weekly positive test rate increased last week according to the BPHC.
According to the BPHC, 12,787 Boston residents tested citywide and 7.5 percent were positive—a 3 percent increase from the 7.3 percent that tested positive between June 20 and June 27.
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 0.4 percent last week and went from 193,870 to 194,604 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic.
There were nine additional deaths in Boston from the virus in the past week and the total number of COVID deaths is now at 1,478.