The city of Lynn marked a major milestone on Thursday.
Lynn is out of the red for the first time since the state started color-coding communities based on their risk for coronavirus spread. The city is now a yellow, or moderate-risk community, which follows months of being considered high risk, according to the state Department of Public Health.
The new designation, which came nearly a year to the day schools were shut down in Lynn due to the pandemic, was hailed by city officials, including Mayor Thomas M. McGee and Public Health Director Michele Desmarais, on Friday.
“Nearly a full year has passed since the Lynn Board of Health declared a public health emergency in the city of Lynn on March 17, 2020,” said McGee. “There has been an incredible amount of work done by our public health and frontline workers, first responders and the residents of the city of Lynn to diligently follow the appropriate health and safety protocols to stop the spread of COVID-19.
“It has been an extremely challenging year, but being categorized as a ‘yellow’ community for the first time is a significant step in the right direction. I want to thank our partners at Lynn Community Health Center and Lynn DPH, as well as all of the workers who have put in a tremendous amount of effort to get Lynn residents vaccinated thus far.”
McGee added that he was “excited for our community to continue trending in a positive direction as we remain committed to doing what we have to, to eliminate the spread of COVID-19 within our community.”
While the city’s positive test rate is still nearly twice the state average — 3.63 percent compared to 1.83 percent over the past 14 days — the number continues to decline each week, the state DPH reported.
Lynn’s daily incidence rate has also been on the decline. As of Thursday, the city was reporting an average of 21.8 new cases per day, according to the DPH. The city’s new average, which is on par with the state average of 20.3, stands in stark contrast to earlier in the pandemic, when Lynn’s daily incidence rate was in the triple digits.
“The Lynn Department of Public Health has been working very hard to decrease the number of positive COVID-19 cases by testing, contact tracing, and now organizing and offering vaccination clinics for eligible Lynn residents, with a special focus on our most vulnerable patients,” said Desmarais.
“I want to thank MJ Duffy Alexander, Jen Almonte, and the entire public health staff for their continuous hard work and dedication to alleviate COVID-19 in the city of Lynn.”
As of Thursday, 18,790 Lynn residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, which represents approximately 19 percent of the city’s population. Nine percent of the population, or approximately 9,041 residents, have been fully vaccinated, according to data provided by McGee’s office.
However, the enthusiasm over the city’s new designation was somewhat dampened by the uptick in cases that were reported on Friday.
Forty new cases, or nearly twice the city’s daily incidence rate, were reported to bring the caseload in Lynn to 15,839. Of that total, 259 cases are active, 199 people have died, and 15,381 have recovered from the virus, according to city data.
In Peabody, which is also out of the red this week, 32 new cases and an additional death were reported to bring the city’s caseload to 6,362 and its death toll to 300. Of that total, 5,726 people have recovered, according to the city’s health department.
Despite the city reaching a grim milestone in terms of fatalities, like Lynn, Peabody was celebrating its new yellow designation on Friday. According to the DPH, the city’s daily incidence and positive test rates both declined this week, to 24.1 new cases per 100,000 residents and 3.47 percent, respectively.
“Some welcome news heading into the weekend,” said Peabody Mayor Ted Bettencourt. “Peabody has dropped out of the state’s high-risk category for COVID-19 spread with a positive test rate of 3.47 percent over the last week. This is the lowest level we’ve seen since before the holiday case surge back in November and December.
“Peabody’s falling test rate mirrors the statewide trend, which prompted Gov. (Charlie) Baker to announce that Massachusetts will move into the final phase of his administration’s reopening plan later this month. We must continue to remain vigilant, however, and follow public health guidelines, particularly regarding physical distancing and face masks.”
Bettencourt added that “if we continue our efforts to keep one another safe, we can put this pandemic behind us, once and for all.”
Revere, which was downgraded to a yellow community for the first time last week, did some backpedaling this week, as the DPH is reporting that the city is back in the red.
Its daily incidence and positive test rates both increased, which are 32.4 new cases per 100,000 residents and 4.12 percent, respectively. Eighteen new cases were reported in Revere on Friday to bring the city’s total numbers to 9,794 cases and 157 deaths.
Besides Revere, all of the North Shore communities within The Item’s coverage area are out of the red this week. In addition to Lynn, Peabody and Revere, new cases were also reported in Lynnfield, Marblehead and Salem on Friday.
Lynnfield (1,069 cases, 29 deaths) reported two new cases, Marblehead (1,195 cases, 31 deaths) has reported 23 new cases since last Friday, and Salem (4,178 cases, 75 deaths) reported eight new cases.
Numbers remained the same in Nahant (223 cases, six deaths) and were not updated in Saugus or Swampscott, which had 3,626 cases and 66 deaths, and 965 cases and 19 deaths, respectively, as of Thursday.