COVID-19 Cases§ (Boston Residents) #

Active Cases 2,738

Recovered Cases 74,499

Deaths 1,415

TOTAL CASES 78,652

2,957

4.5%

Last Week Overall %CLI (9/3-9/9/2021) 4.4%

Communicable Disease Control DivisionBOSTON PUBLIC HEALTH COMMISSION (BPHC)

This Week Overall %CLI (9/10-9/16/2021)

Hospitalizations

1/3/2020 - 9/16/2021

COVID-19 Confirmed Hospitalizations (through 9/16/2021)

1010 Massachusetts Ave - Boston, MA 02118Phone: (617) 534-5611 - Fax: (617) 534-5905

Boston ED CLI§§ Syndromic Surveillance (All Visits)

Boston COVID-19 Report - For the Week Ending 9/16/2021

Figure 1. Reported COVID-19 Cases and % CLI Emergency Department Visits, by Week, 2020-2021§,§§

Summary: As of 8:10 am on 9/16/2021, a total of 78,652 cases of laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 among Boston residents have been reported to the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC). Of reported cases, two thousand nine hundred and fifty seven (3.8%) required hospitalization. One thousand four hundred and fifteen (1.8%)residents have died. Seventy four thousand four hundred and ninety nine (94.7%) residents have recovered. Four thousand eight hundred and forty three cases (6.2%) were healthcare workers.

Emergency Department (ED) visits for COVID-19-like illness (CLI) comprised 4.5% of all ED visits between (9/10 - 9/16/2021), up from 4.4% the prior week.

Please note, the data presented in this report (and more) are now available via BPHC’s Boston COVID-19 Dashboard. You can find the Boston COVID-19 Report in the COVID-19 Cases tab. If you have any questions about how to access COVID-19 data in the dashboard, please contact msarangocancel@bphc.org.§New daily cases are defined by the date of their first reported positive test. Prior to October 8, 2020, new cases were reported using the event date. An event date is the earliest associated date corresponding to each disease event and is hierarchical based on available information (e.g., symptom onset date, test date, report date).

§§COVID-19-like illness (CLI) is defined as "Covid or (fever and (cough or respiratory distress))"in ED chief complaint data from Boston acute care hospitals, captured by National Syndromic Surveillance Program for Boston Emergency Departments.

§ New daily cases are defined by the date of their first reported positive test. Prior to October 8, 2020, new cases were reported using the event date. An event date is the earliest associated date corresponding to each disease event and is hierarchical based on available information (e.g., symptom onset date, test date, report date).§§ %CLI ED (All Visits) is a percentage of CLI visits among all ED including irrespective of residence. %CLI ED (Boston Resident Visits Only) is a

4.5%

5.1%

0%1%2%3%4%5%6%7%8%9%10%11%12%13%14%15%

0250500750

1000125015001750200022502500275030003250350037504000

% C

LI E

D Vi

sits

Num

ber o

f Cas

es

Week Ending

COVID-19 Cases (Boston Residents) % CLI ED (All Visits) % CLI ED (Boston Resident Visits Only)

Data Source: National Syndromic Surveillance Program data for Boston Emergency Departments (Jan 3, 2020 to Sep 16, 2021); Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Massachusetts Virtual Epidemiologic Network (Jan 3, 2020 to Sep 16, 2021, 8:10 am)

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There was a similar distribution of male cases and female cases (Figure 2). The incidence rate of COVID-19 among female residents was similar compared to male residents (Figure 3). Note: The overall rate was higher than rates by sex due to the 0.6% of cases with other/unknown sex or who identify as transgender.

47.9%51.6%

0.5%

Figure 2: Percent of All COVID-19 Cases (Boston Residents), by Sex, 2020-2021

Male Female Other, Transgender, or Unknown

DATA SOURCES: Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Massachusetts Virtual Epidemiologic Network (Jan 1, 2020 to Sep 16 2021, 8:10 am)

11,576.5 11,522.6 11,512.7

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

OVERALL MALE FEMALE

Rate

per

100

,000

Sex

Figure 3. Rates of Reported COVID-19 Cases by Sex Among Boston Residents

DATA SOURCES: Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Massachusetts Virtual Epidemiologic Network (Jan 1, 2020 to Sep 16, 2021, 8:10 am); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2018 5-yr estimates (2014-2018)

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Rates of COVID-19 in Boston residents are lowest for those ages 19 years or less, and highest for those ages 80 and above(Figure 5).

DATA SOURCES: Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Massachusetts Virtual Epidemiologic Network (Jan 1, 2020 to Sep 16, 2021, 8:10 am)

<10 yrs5.6% 10-19 yrs

9.3%

20-29 yrs27.6%

30-39 yrs 18.2%

40-49 yrs11.9%

50-59 yrs11.7%

60-69 yrs8.1%

70-79 yrs4.3%

80+ yrs3.3%

FIGURE 4. REPORTED COVID-19 CASES BY AGE AMONG BOSTON

RESIDENTS

11,576.5

6,944.4

9,627.3

13,082.112,276.8 12,512.9 12,396.4

11,209.410,471.9

13,263.4

0

2,000

4,000

6,000

8,000

10,000

12,000

14,000

OVERALL 0-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80+

Rate

* pe

r 100

,000

Age Group (yrs)

Figure 5. Rates of Reported COVID-19 Cases by Age Among Boston Residents

*Age-standardized rates, per 100,000

DATA SOURCES: Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Massachusetts Virtual Epidemiologic Network (Jan 1, 2020 to Sep 16, 2021, 8:10 am); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2018 5-yr estimates (2014-2018)

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Figure 6: Incidence Rates of Reported COVID-19 Cases by Neighborhood Among Boston Residents

The incidence rate of COVID-19 was higher for Dorchester (02121, 02125), Dorchester (02122, 02124), East Boston, Hyde Park, Roxbury, and South Boston compared with the rest of Boston. The incidence rate of COVID-19 was similar for Rosindale compared with the rest of Boston. The incidence rate of COVID-19 was lower for Allston/Brighton, Back Bay (including Beacon Hill, Downtown, the North End, and the West End), Charlestown, Fenway, Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, South End, and West Roxburycompared with the rest of Boston (Figure 6). To test neighborhood differences, an individual neighborhood is compared with the rest of Boston (i.e., all other neighborhoods combined), rather than to Boston overall so that individual neighborhood’s contribution to the Boston overall rate does not mask a difference from the rest of Boston.

Neighborhood ZIPS

Allston/Brighton=02163, 02134, 02135Back Bay, Beacon Hill, North End, West End, and Downtown=02108, 02109, 02110, 02112, 02113, 02114, 02116, 02117, 02196, 02199, 02205Charlestown=02129East Boston=02128Dorchester (02121, 02125)=02121, 02125Dorchester (02122, 02124)=02122, 02124Fenway=02115, 02123, 02215Hyde Park=02136, 02137Jamaica Plain=02130Mattapan=02126Roslindale=02131Roxbury=02119, 02120South Boston=02127, 02210South End=02111, 02118West Roxbury=02132

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Of cases where race/ethnicity was known, 6.1% were Asian, 24.9% were Black, 28.6% were Latinx or Hispanic, 34.2% were White, and 6.1% identified as multi-racial, another racial/ethnic group or Other race. When the percent of information that is missing or unknown is greater than 20%, percentages are calculated among the known cases, but both are presented here.

DATA SOURCES: Boston Public Health Commission Surveillance System (Jan 1, 2020 to Sep 14, 2020, 8:55 am); Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Massachusetts Virtual Epidemiologic Network (Jan 1, 2020 to Sep 16, 2021, 8:10 am)

11,576.5

6,717.7

11,684.8

15,497.4

19,207.9

8,191.7

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

OVERALL Asian, nL/nH Black, nL/nH Latinx/Hispanic Other, nL/nH §§ White, nL/nH

Rate

per

100

,000

Race/Ethnicity

Figure 7. Rates of Reported COVID-19 Cases by Race/Ethnicity§ Among Boston Residents

DATA SOURCES: Boston Public Health Commission Surveillance System (Jan 1, 2020 to Sep 14, 2020, 8:55 am); Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Massachusetts Virtual Epidemiologic Network (Jan 1, 2020 to Sep 16 2021, 8:10am); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey, 2018 5-yr estimates (2014-2018)

§nL/nH=non-Latinx/non-Hispanic§§Other, nL/nH includes American Indian/Alaska Native and multiracial

The incidence rate of COVID-19 was higher for Black and Latinx/Hispanic residents and residents of other races/ethnicities (including multiple races and individuals that did not specify a given race or ethnicity category) compared with the rate for White residents (Figure 7). The incidence rate was lower for Asian residents compared with White residents (Figure 7). Interpret these rates with caution due to the high percentage of missing race/ethnicity data (Table 1).

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