COVID Levels Declining in Boston, But Officials Urge Residents to ‘Remain Vigilant'

COVID-19 levels are declining in Boston, but health officials urged residents Tuesday to "remain vigilant" as the metrics are still higher than they were prior to the start of the current surge fueled by the highly-contagious BA.5 omicron subvariant.

Levels of the virus in local wastewater have decreased by 21% over the past week, according to the latest data. The current rate is still high but represents a dramatic improvement from the situation in early June.

The number of new COVID cases have also stabilized over the last seven days, and Boston saw nearly a 15% decrease in hospitalizations over the past week.

Community positivity is at 9.2%, which is lower than it had been but remains high. The threshold for when people should be taking precautions is 5%, and the goal is 4% or lower.

Suffolk County also remains at medium risk for COVID, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The improvement in our COVID-19 trends over the past two weeks is a welcomed sign, but we must remain vigilant, especially with the highly transmissible BA.5 variant making up a majority of cases in the region,” said Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, commissioner of public health and executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission. “We’ve seen a consistent pattern of ups and downs for the past few months, but, overall, Boston’s metrics are at a medium risk level.  The risk of transmission is still significant, and we all need to continue to take proper precautions to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our communities.”

The BA.5 strain is now responsible for 85.5% of cases in New England, followed by BA.4 at 7.7%, BA.4.6 at 4.1%, BA.2.12.1 at 2.6% and BA.2 at 0.1%.

While no evidence indicates that BA.5 causes more severe illness from COVID than other strains, people who have never been vaccinated, and even fully vaccinated and boosted people who were last dosed in 2021, are seeing higher hospitalization rates from COVID than in recent months. 

Boston issued a new COVID warning three weeks ago, urging people to start wearing masks again in crowded indoor spaces and telling people to gather outside and choose outdoor events when possible. One example of an indoor crowded space is MBTA trains and other modes of public transportation.

Even with the numbers starting to show some improvement, the Boston Public Health Commission said its recommendations remain unchanged and residents should continue to adhere to the following strategies to prevent the spread of COVID:

• Test for COVID before and after attending large gatherings, especially if you know you will be around high-risk individuals, such as seniors, those who are immunocompromised, and those who are unvaccinated.
• Wear masks indoors, especially in crowded indoor settings like public transportation.
• Stay home and isolate if you are sick or test positive for COVID. If you test positive, be sure to contact a health care provider about oral antivirals or monoclonal antibody therapy.
• The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is offering free telehealth services for Paxlovid, and oral antiviral that has been proven to reduce the risk of hospitalization and death from COVID significantly.
• Stay up to date on your COVID-19 vaccinations, which are now recommended for everyone 6 months and older.
• Gather outside and choose outdoor activities as often as possible.

More information about COVID vaccines and testing is available at boston.gov/bphc. Residents can also contact the Mayor’s Health Line for more information by calling 617-534-5050 or by going to boston.gov/bphc-mhl.