Wareham back in the ‘red’ per the state’s coronavirus reports

Following an uptick in covid-19 cases, Wareham has returned to the “red” category in the state’s April 8 Weekly Public Health Report.

The spread of coronavirus in Wareham seems to be increasing, with another 46 new cases in town this week, according to the state’s data.

Wareham’s average daily incidence rate increased to 26.3 cases per 100,000 people in the past 14 days. Given Wareham’s population, this means there were about 6.05 new cases each day over the past two weeks.

Wareham has also seen a percent positivity rate — or the percentage of covid-19 tests performed that come back positive — of 5.83 percent over the last 14 days. 

A week ago, the state’s public health report indicated Wareham was seeing roughly 4.14 new cases each day and had a percent positivity rate of 4.13 percent.

Wareham was classified “yellow” per the state’s guidelines from Feb. 15 until the report was released on April 8. Before that, during a surge in coronavirus cases in the fall and through the holidays, Wareham was classified “red.” 

Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 1,509 coronavirus cases in Wareham.

As of April 5, Wareham Public Schools reported one student and one staff member currently positive for covid-19, along with seven students and four employees currently quarantined.

Vaccines

Although not everyone is eligible to be vaccinated against covid-19 yet, all Massachusetts residents can now sign up to be notified when they become eligible to schedule an appointment at a mass vaccination site.

The state’s preregistration system launched on March 12, and Wareham residents can preregister at https://vaccinesignup.mass.gov/. 

Anyone who cannot fill out the form online can ask a family member, companion or caregiver to fill it out, or call the state’s vaccination help line by dialing 211.

The online preregistration form asks for various information including date of birth, address and preferred method of communication. It also asks for occupation and comorbidity information, which could affect how soon a person is eligible for the vaccine.

It takes less than five minutes to preregister. 

Preregistering does not prevent you from making an appointment to be vaccinated somewhere other than a state mass vaccination site if an alternative location can vaccinate you sooner.  

Vaccinations have resumed at the clinic being operated by Southcoast Health at the Gleason Family YMCA, though the vaccine supply is dependent on the state and could vary from week to week. 

Those interested in getting vaccinated at the YMCA can now sign-up as slots are available either through their MyChart account or at www.southcoast.org/covid-19-vaccine-scheduling/, which does not require a MyChart account.

Wareham’s Council on Aging staff has launched a hotline for residents who need help making a covid-19 vaccine appointment. Residents can dial 508-291-3100 Ext. 6530 from 8 a.m. until noon Monday through Friday and staff will assist with finding a mass vaccination site with openings and booking the appointment.