For a third week in a row Beacon Hill, North End, Back Bay, West End and Downtown’s COVID cases have spiked most likely due to the Delta variant infecting unvaccinated and vaccinated people alike.
Earlier this month a COVID outbreak occurred in Provincetown with the Delta variant of the virus being confirmed among the cluster. The BPHC released an advisory on July 20 with new guidance to all residents of Boston who traveled to Provincetown during July until further notice. As of July 19, 2021, at least 35 COVID-19 cases in Boston residents have been traced back to this cluster and the overwhelming majority of those have been fully vaccinated.
According to the weekly report released last Friday released by the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), 1,416 Beacon Hill, North End, Back Bay, West End and Downtown residents were tested and 2.8 percent were positive. This was a 115 percent increase from the 1.3 percent of residents that tested positive on July 16.
Overall since the pandemic started 56,326Beacon Hill, North End, Back Bay, West End and Downtown residents have been tested for COVID-19 and the data shows that 6.4 percent of those tested were COVID positive. This was the same percentage reported by the BPHC on July 16.
Citywide, the weekly positive test rate increased nearly 50 percent. According to the BPHC 13,702 residents were tested and 2.2 percent were COVID positive–this was a 47 percent increase from the 1.5 percent reported by the BPHC two weeks ago.
The BPHC urged all City of Boston residents who have traveled to Provincetown since July 1 to get tested for COVID-19 at least 5 days after returning, regardless of vaccination status or symptoms. The BPHC also said residents should self-isolate and avoid groups or gatherings for at least 5 days until a negative COVID-19 test, regardless of vaccination status.
The BPHC data released last Friday showed Beacon Hill, North End, Back Bay, West End and Downtown had an infection rate of 644.9 cases per 10,000 residents–roughly a 1 percent increase from the 638.8 cases per 10,000 residents reported on July 16.
Thirty-four additional residents have been infected with the virus between July 16 and July 23 and the total number of cases in the area increased to 3,594 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 0.6 percent since July 16 and went from 71,399 cases to 71,914 confirmed cases in a week. Three additional Boston residents died from the virus in the past two weeks and there are now 1,39 total deaths in the city from COVID.