All of Massachusetts except Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard is now considered low-risk for COVID-19, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dukes County is now the only county in the state listed in the medium risk category, with the rest of the state listed as low risk. That’s a dramatic change from a month ago, when all but two Massachusetts counties were considered high-risk.
The news is also good in the rest of New England, with no counties listed as high-risk and only a handful of counties outside of Maine in the medium-risk category.
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This is not a total surprise, especially considering the recent decline in school cases, test positivity rate, and sewage levels of COVID in recent weeks.
State health officials on Thursday reported 1,700 new cases of COVID-19 and six more deaths. The state’s seven-day average positivity was 5.53%. Both metrics were about the same as a week ago.
But after rising for months, the number of new cases in Massachusetts schools is down for the fifth week in a row. The total of 1,704 cases was a decrease of more than 50% from last Thursday’s report, when a total of 4,216 cases were identified.
What about the rest of New England?
Aside from Maine, COVID levels are down in the rest of New England as well.
Maine still has eight counties in the medium risk category, with the rest of the state considered low risk.
Vermont’s Essex County is at medium risk, with the rest of the state in the low risk category.
In New Hampshire, only Coos County in the far north is in the medium category, with the rest of the state considered low risk.
All of Rhode Island is now considered low risk, while Connecticut still has three counties in the medium risk category.
Residents of high-risk counties are urged to wear masks in public places and on public transportation, to stay up-to-date on vaccinations and get tested if they have symptoms, according to the CDC.
Residents in medium-risk areas are encouraged to wear a mask if they have symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19. Anyone at high risk for severe illness should also consider wearing a mask in public places and take extra precautions, the CDC says.
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