Canton elevated to ‘red’ status as COVID cases rise

Update: Canton returned to the yellow risk category with the release of the Department of Public Health’s April 8 weekly report. Its 14-day average daily incidence rate fell to 33.6 per 100,000 people and its percent positivity dropped to 4.04 percent.

For the first time in nearly two months, the town of Canton slid back into the red (high risk) category for COVID-19 following the release of the latest weekly public health report put out by the Department of Public Health.

Continuing a trend seen over the last several weeks, Canton once again saw an increase in both average daily incidence rate (41.3 cases per 100,000 people) and positive test rate (5.12 percent). For communities of Canton’s size, the red designation signifies an average daily incidence rate greater than 10 per 100,000 AND a positive test rate greater than 5 percent.

As of April 1, Canton was the lone municipality receiving a red rating among the immediate surrounding towns, which together had an average daily incidence rate of 25.7 per 100,000. Westwood had the lowest rate at 17.5 per 100K, followed by Norwood (19.1) and Dedham (21.1). Aside from Canton, all other towns had a rate below 30 per 100K.

Zooming out to the 28 cities and towns comprising Norfolk County, Canton again had the highest daily incidence rate and was the only municipality to exceed 40 cases per 100K (Braintree was next highest at 38.5 per 100K). Canton was also one of only two municipalities in Norfolk County to receive the red designation, along with Plainville. The majority of municipalities were in the yellow risk category, with Brookline and Dover both in the green.

Commenting on the recent surge in Canton, Fire Chief and Emergency Services Coordinator Charles Doody noted that there have been 134 confirmed cases over the past two weeks and a high percentage of these cases have been in people aged 39 and younger.

“As Canton’s cases increase, we ask that you remain vigilant and continue to wear a mask in public, stay socially distant whenever possible and avoid large indoor gatherings,” said Doody. “We’re hopeful that with increasing vaccine availability and more opportunities to be outdoors our numbers will trend downward soon.”

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Posted by Canton Citizen on Apr 9 2021. Filed under Uncategorized. Both comments and pings are currently closed.