Wareham still “moderate risk” for coronavirus

Oct 17, 2020

Wareham has, according to the state, had 19 coronavirus cases over the last two weeks.

That keeps the town in the yellow, “moderate risk” zone for the second week in a row, and Town Administrator Derek Sullivan expects it to stay there for at least another week or two, he said at the Selectmen’s meeting on October 13.

During that meeting, Sullivan reported that the town had counted 12 new cases over the past week, up from 9 the week before.

The state and town counts can differ for a variety of reasons. 

Despite the rise in cases, town offices are now open to the public, but masks are required. 

While the town is still “lower-risk,” as defined by the state, a further increase in cases could jeopardize that status and force the town to return to Phase 3, Step 1 restrictions -- that would mean fitting rooms would close and capacity limits at gyms would be reduced.

Green represents an average daily case rate of less than four per 100,000 people. Yellow represents a rate between four and eight per 100,000, and red indicates a rate higher than eight per 100,000 people.

The state defines lower risk communities as cities and towns that have not been in the red category in any of the last three weekly Department of Public Health reports.