READ LAST WEEK’S SUMMARY BY CLICKING HERE

Every Thursday evening the MA Dept. of Public Health releases numbers for how COVID-19 has impacted the state, and we try to highlight some of these numbers so the community is informed about how COVID is impacting Lynn & the state. Their numbers factor in the past week as well as the week before, giving 2 weeks worth of data.

The City of Lynn officially entered the yellow COVID-19 risk category for the first time on March 12th, but returned to the red category on March 25th. Since returning to the red Lynn’s numbers have gone back up very quickly, which is bad news for Lynn as we have been hit hard throughout the pandemic. On February 8th Lynn passed 15,000 total cases and we currently stand at 16,864, an increase of 289 from last week.

Lynn currently has 402 active cases, up from 375 last week & 354 two weeks ago. New 24-hour cases rose to 75 on April 6th, the largest single-day increase since Feb. 6th. There have also been 14 people that have died due to COVID-19 since March 1st. Even though there have been spikes in both of these numbers it should be noted that both statistics have overall been trending in a positive direction for the city since February. You can view these trends for Lynn yourself on the City of Lynn’s COVID-19 dashboard by clicking here. You can click the icon in the top-right corner of each section to see it enlarged.

There is concern a lack of vaccine availability, the coming warmer weather, the return of youth sports, re-opening schools to in-person learning, & loosening restrictions could cause a spike in cases. After weeks of declining numbers the increase in Lynn & return to the red category proves these words of caution have some basis in fact. With those factors in mind it is still recommended to take COVID-19 seriously until you’ve been fully vaccinated, & even after to still mask up and distance for at least a little while to help mitigate the spread to ensure those that aren’t able to get the vaccine yet remain healthy. Please read about the Lynn Tech vaccination site by clicking here.

The average daily incidence rate per 100,000 for Lynn this week was 36.8 while it was at 34.9, 29.5, 22.3, & 21.8 the last 4 weeks. The positivity rate this week was 5.77% while it was 5.36%, 4.69%, 3.81%, & 3.63% the last 4 weeks. These are both concerning increases for Lynn, after promising decreases that the city hadn’t seen in months.

The state of Massachusetts has also seen some negative trends continue this week. The average daily incidence rate per 100,000 for MA this week was 28.1 while for the past 4 weeks it was 25.6, 21.5, 19.5, & 20.3. The positivity rate this week was 2.54% but the 4 weeks prior it had been 2.36%, 2.01%, 1.83%, & 1.83%. Back in early February the number of communities in the red category had rapidly declined, reaching a low of 14, but we are now at 77. The number of communities in the yellow has fluctuated due to communities changing categories from red to yellow and yellow to green, but has remained below 200 for well over a month.

The United States currently has 31 million cases, & has consistently only been adding about 400K per week the last several weeks. There are currently 134 million cases reported worldwide, up from 130 million last week. Internationally cases have remained fairly constant, with at least 3million more a week for over a month. Increases in new cases in the U.S. have dropped significantly, but are still fluctuating. At it’s height back in early January 300K+ new cases were reported with a 7-day average of 259,616. Yesterday 81,303 new cases were reported, with a 7-day average of 66,118.

The death toll in the US now sits at approx. 560K, while it was at 533K, 546K, 539K, & 530K the previous 4 weeks. This accounts for approx. 20% of the worldwide death toll of 2.9million, and is second only to Brazil at 345K. The good news is that deaths have been trending downwards fast since early February. Yesterday only 995 were declared dead due to COVID-19, & the 7-day average for deaths sits at 997.

In Massachusetts there are currently 77 communities in the red category & 154 in the yellow category. The last 4 weeks there were 55, 32, 20, & 14 communities in the red. The last 4 weeks there were 172, 179, 175, & 181 communities in the yellow.

The MA Department of Public Health continues to conduct surveillance for COVID-19 variants of concern including B.1.1.7 (first identified in the UK), B.1.351 (first identified in South Africa) and P.1 (first identified in Brazil).

Surveillance, consisting of genetic sequencing on portions of COVID-19 positive specimens, has been ongoing in a collaboration between the Massachusetts State Public health Laboratory with clinical diagnostic laboratories and academic partners, including the CDC. Surveillance data so far has identified B.1.1.7 and the B.1.351 cases without any recent travel; it is critical to do everything possible to keep variants of concern from becoming widespread.

The public health risk reduction measures remain the same. Individuals must continue to wear masks or face coverings while out in public, maintain 6-foot social distancing, stay home when you are sick, and get tested if you have symptoms or are identified as a close contact

Below are the statistics for Lynn & the state.

City/Town	Total Case Count	Case Count (Last 14 Days)	Average Daily Incidence Rate per 100,000 (Last 14 days)	Relative Change in Case Counts	Total Tests	Total Tests (Last 14 days)	Total Positive Tests (Last 14 days)	Percent Positivity (Last 14 days)	Change in Percent Positivity
Lynn	16,413	520	36.8	Higher	212,487	10,496	606	5.77%	Higher
STATEWIDE	611,825	27,379	28.1	Higher	19,431,439	1,211,624	30,775	2.54%	Higher