Coronavirus cases rise in Attleboro area and elsewhere in state

The 10 communities are Attleboro, North Attleboro, Plainville, Mansfield, Norton, Foxboro, Wrentham, Norfolk, Rehoboth and Seekonk.

The local cases have been hovering around 20 for nine weeks. The lowest was 12 reported cases.

That’s the 10th consecutive week the number of reported cases statewide is under 1,000.

Overall, reported cases have are in decline. The last 16 weeks statewide the number has gone from 4,999 to 613 cases which is a decrease of 87.73%.

In the week ending May 18 two towns had zero cases. For the second consecutive they were Norfolk and Rehoboth.

There were 258 coronavirus tests administered by health officials in the 10 communities covered by The Sun Chronicle with 22 positives which is a percentage of 8.52% which is 1.67 points higher than the week of May 11.

That’s an decrease of 19 tests from the 277 recorded last week which equals 6.85%.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the area and state, however, is not accurate. Not all the positive cases found through home-testing are reported to health officials. Also, many people who become ill with COVID-like symptoms — fever, congestion, sneezing, fatigue, body aches, and headaches — don’t bother testing as the virus has weakened and the symptoms caused by the virus are less severe.

For context, the highest number of new cases statewide for one week was recorded on Jan. 14, 2022, at 132,557.

The highest number locally for one week was 3,463 recorded on Jan. 13, 2022.

All told, since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, the area has recorded 50,869 cases.

That’s 25.32% of the 200,793 population in the 10 communities covered by The Sun Chronicle.

Percentages of the disease in each community range from 22% to 29% (rounded up) and the average is 24.72%

Norfolk is the lowest at 21.96% and Attleboro is the highest at 28.66%.

In the week ending May 18 the case counts in each of the 10 communities were:

• Attleboro, 1
• Foxboro, 7
• Mansfield 2
• Norfolk, 0
• North Attleboro, 6
• Norton, 2
• Plainville, 1
• Rehoboth, 0
• Seekonk, 1
• Wrentham, 2

Statewide, the number was 613 confirmed cases with 159 probable cases for a total statewide of 2,154,381 confirmed and probable cases since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.

The number of confirmed deaths statewide for the week of May 18 was 4 and the number of probable deaths was 0.

The number of confirmed deaths statewide since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 is 23,464 and the number of confirmed and probable deaths is 29,974.

A recent poll for the 10 communities covered by The Sun Chronicle reported the total number of deaths at 520. That’s a death rate of 1.02%.

Death totals per community covered by The Sun Chronicle were:

• Attleboro, 199
• Foxboro, 29
• Mansfield, 44
• Norfolk, 8
• North Attleboro, 96
• Norton, 18
• Plainville, 22
• Rehoboth, 23
• Seekonk, 15
• Wrentham, 66

Most of the deaths caused by the virus occur in people over the age of 65.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the rate of positive tests for coronavirus nationwide is up slightly as of May 18, or 3.4%

In the Attleboro area, it’s 8.52% as of May 18, but fewer tests with the same number of positives result in bigger percentages.

Emergency room visits nationwide were up 7% as of May 18.

Hospital admissions for coronavirus were up 16.7% nationwide as of May 4.

There has been no change in the percentage of deaths nationwide as of May 18.

The percentage rate for all deaths nationwide is 1.1%.

In the 10 communities covered by The Sun Chronicle it’s 1.02%