Relatively Low COVID-19 Rates at the Five Colleges
Dr. Kathleen Szegda, Director of the Community Research and Evaluation at the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts, was quoted in 9/14/2020 article that appeared in the Hampshire Daily Gazette about relatively low COVID-19 rates at the Five Colleges.
According to the article, the Five Colleges reported a total of 20 confirmed cases as of Monday, and UMass reported a 0.04% overall positivity rate for COVID-19 tests so far.
Dr. Szegda is quoted saying, “I think that the rates are low, but it’s important to remain cautious and vigilant and to promote the prevention methods". It is critical that students continue to practice preventative measures, such as physical distancing and wearing masks. Dr. Szegda also noted that we will have to see what happens to the numbers since students only just recently returned.
On November 6, 2020, the Baker-Polito Administration released updated metrics for communities that adjust for a municipality's population size. The new metrics incorporate cases per 100,000 residents and the test positivity rate when determining a color designation. More details about the color designations can be found in the table below. To see community designations, please download the spreadsheets below or visit the county pages.
The state now has a weekly COVID-19 vaccination report. This weekly report features information on COVID-19 vaccine supply distribution, administration, and other data for Massachusetts. It is updated each Thursday at 5pm.
Please Note: Some federal facilities in MA receive vaccine from a separate federal distribution system that is not included in this data.
The map below shows COVID-19 vaccine doses shipped to providers in different counties as a percentage of the population. It is important to note that the providers shown are the initial recipients, and doses may be redistributed to other providers (and other counties).
Data Sources and Notes
Sources:
MDPH Weekly COVID-19 Public Health Report. Current two week data is from most recent Public Health Report. Prior two week data is from prior week’s Public Health Report. Please note that there is an overlap in periods as MDPH reports weekly on rolling two week reporting periods, which they use for their comparisons. We report data in this way to be consistent with MDPH reporting.
Comparisons to previous two-week period: Symbols indicate change when compared to prior two-week period. For new cases, incidence per 100,000, and total tests: Higher (upward arrow) means the number in the current two-week period is higher than the prior period. Lower (downward arrow) means the number in the current two-week period is lower than prior two-week period. No change (equal sign) means the number in the current two-week period is the same as the prior period. For percent positivity: less than 0.10% difference in the percent positivity is considered No change (equal sign).
Race and ethnicity data by county and community is not available at this time.
Change in reporting: MDPH changed their reporting of county data on 8/12/20. Previously, county cases were in the Daily COVID-19 Dashboard report and included probable and confirmed cases. Beginning 8/12/20, county data is now reported in the Weekly COVID-19 report and cases only include confirmed cases. Thus, we are not currently able to show new case county-level data and other county-level data over time for periods prior to 8/12/20.
