The Mission Hill/Roxbury COVID-19 infection since the beginning of September rose 12.3 percent. This was up from the 8.5 percent increase that occurred in the neighborhood between August and September. .
According to data released last Friday by the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) the COVID-19 infection rate here jumped from 260.6 cases per 10,000 residents to an infection rate of 292.8 cases per 10,000 residents in one month.
There were 1,263 COVID-19 cases in Mission Hill/ Roxbury as of last Friday, an increase of 139 cases from the 1,124 cases reported by the end of August.
The stats released by the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) as part of its weekly COVID-19 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. Updated results are released on the BPHC’s website on Friday afternoons.
Last week the BPHC reported that 21,449 Mission Hill/Roxbury residents were tested for COVID-19 and the data shows that only 2.5 percent of those tested in the area were COVID positive. The citywide average last Friday was 3.5 percent. Overall since the pandemic began 6.1 percent of Mission Hill/Roxbury residents were found to be COVID positive.
Citywide positive cases of coronavirus rose nearly 3 percent last week from 16,703 cases to 17,186 cases. So far 14,174 Boston residents have fully recovered from the virus and one additional resident died last week bringing the total of fatalities in the city to 762.
During his daily press briefing on the virus Friday, Mayor Martin Walsh said Boston’s positive test rate is at 2.7%, roughly level with the week before.
“Our daily average for new positive tests is 49, down slightly from the week before,” he said. “We have seen a slight increase in our hospitalization numbers, but it has not crossed our threshold for major concern. We are monitoring it carefully, and the City will continue to bring resources to where they are needed.”
The Mayor said we need everyone to remain vigilant with face coverings, hand washing, and social distancing to help keep the numbers under control.
“Last Monday, Boston Public Schools kicked off the new school year with online learning for all students,” said Walsh. “I want to remind everyone that the plan is to gradually introduce in-person learning starting with the highest need students, and the youngest students.”
The Mayor said the city will only move forward with in-person learning if the COVID-19 data stays within a certain threshold, and will only hold in-person learning if Boston’s positive test rate is below 4 percent.
“We will continue to monitor all data closely, and make adjustments if needed,” he said.