BCAT News

Health officials are warning that cases of COVID-19 are up in numerous counties in Massachusetts, including Middlesex County, and are advising residents to take precautions such as mask wearing in public.

According to the CDC, there are seven counties in the state that they label as having a “high” amount of COVID-19 based on recent data. They include Middlesex, Berkshire, Franklin, Worcester, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Barnstable. The organization says that people in those counties are advised to wear a mask while indoors in public, stay up to date on vaccinations and to immediately get tested if symptoms are present.

According to its website, The CDC determines community COVID-19 levels by looking at hospital beds being used, hospital admissions, and the total number of new COVID-19 cases in an area.

Massachusetts has seen a rise in new cases, according to the Mass Department of Public Health. In the reports issued each Thursday, the state has seen increases in the number of new cases (based over a two week period) grow steadily. On April 14 the state reported 18,266 new cases, on April 21 there were 24,195 new cases, on April 28 there were 27,670 new cases and most recently, on May 5, the state reported 31,689 new cases.

Locally, Burlington has seen an increase in new cases over the same period. On April 14 the town had 81 new cases, on April 21 it had 90 new cases, on April 28 there were 94 new cases and on May 5 there were 120 new cases in town.

The Burlington School Department also reports seeing an increase in new cases since students returned from April vacation. During the school week starting on April 25 the district had 55 cases last week and during the week starting on May 2 it had 75 cases. The breakdown by school is as follows: 6 at Burlington High School, 11 at Marshall Simonds Middle School, 20 at Pine Glen, 12 at Memorial School, 12 at Francis Wyman, 8 at Fox Hill, and 4 at the Burlington Early Childhood Center.