Politics & Government
Active Coronavirus Cases Increasing On North Shore
Beverly, Salem and other North Shore towns saw an increase in the number of active coronavirus cases this week.
DANVERS, MA — Danvers, which had been one of the hardest hit communities in the first stage of the coronavirus crisis, had just five active cases according to town-by-town COVID-19 released by the state Department of Public Health Wednesday.
That was in contrast to several other communities on the North Shore and across Massachusetts, a majority of which saw increases in the active case count for the 14 days ended July 29. Beverly, Salem and Swampscott saw their active case counts rise in the most recent DPH report, and the positive test rate for the two-week period in Peabody and Salem was above the state average of 1.74 percent:
| City/Town | Case Count (Last 14 Days) | Change | Percent Positive (Last 14 Days) |
| Beverly | 14 | Increase | 1.49% |
| Danvers | 5 | Decrease | 0.81 |
| Marblehead | 6 | No Change | 1.17% |
| Peabody | 22 | No Change | 1.79% |
| Salem | 21 | Increase | 1.97% |
| Swampscott | 6 | Increase | 1.61% |
Most towns, however, had positive test rates below two percent for the two weeks ended Wednesday. Health officials say positive test results need to stay below 5 percent for two weeks or longer and, preferably, be closer to 2 percent, for states to safely ease up social distancing restrictions.
Find out what's happening in Danverswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Dave Copeland covers the North Shore for Patch. He can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).
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