After hundreds of Charlestown residents gathered with friends and family over Thanksgiving weekend, public health officials are keeping a close eye for increases in COVID-19 infections in the neighborhood.
While Charlestown weekly COVID positive test rate did decrease last week, health experts say isolated spikes in infections may not show up until next week’s report if some residents were exposed to the virus over the Holiday Weekend.
According to the weekly report released Monday by the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC), 866 Charlestown residents were tested and 3.8 percent were found to be positive–this was a 9.5 percent decrease from the 4.2 percent that tested positive between November 15 and November 22.
However, the citywide weekly positive test rate increased last week. According to the BPHC 27,014 residents were tested and 4 percent were COVID positive–this was a 5.3 percent increase from the 3.8 percent reported by the BPHC on November 22.
Thirty-three additional Charlestown residents tested positive for the virus since November 22 and the number of positive cases increased to 1,866 overall since the start of the pandemic.
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 2 percent last week and went from 86,157 cases to 87,916 confirmed cases in a week. There were five additional deaths in Boston from the virus in the past week and the total COVID deaths is now at 1,468.