Amherst Now Has Highest Incidence Of Covid-19 In The State
Photo: Maxpixel.net. Public domain
Although the incidence of Covid-19 is falling precipitously throughout the country, the number of cases in Amherst has increased sharply since classes at UMass resumed on January 25.
The incidence of cases per 100,000 residents was as low as 77 two weeks ago, but was up to 150.1/100,000 as of February 24, up from 90.1 on February 16. In August 2021, the incidence was 1.4 per 100,000. This makes Amherst the town with the highest incidence in the state and behind only Boston, Worcester, and Springfield, the three largest municipalities in the state, in the total number of cases. As of February 24, there were 417 active cases in Amherst.
Eighty-eight percent of Amherst residents and 98% of UMass students are fully vaccinated against the virus. Despite the high vaccination rate, 1100 students and 60 staff have tested positive in the last month. Few of these recent cases have resulted in serious illnesses or hospitalization.
UMASS has been a leader throughout the pandemic. Do not blame the faculty, students and staff for Amherst ‘s problems
I do blame the students to a high degree – they obeyed the UMass Covid rules when they had to but they did not realize the seriousness of the situation so they had a nonchalant attitude all too often – the students living off campus and the students partied way too much- and the increase in Covid cases and the location and the timing of it factually shows that students were at fault all too often – they may be college students but they are not responsible adults yet –
I respectfully disagree with your opinion on this
– l also live in Hadley where many students either live or frequent and l work at UMass at the University Health Services so I have experience that backs up my opinion – furthermore it is not Amherst that has the highest rate of cases now – that was incomplete news – if you had read a bit more on this subject you would see that Amherst is 4th in the areas in this state, not first – the first 3 are in the eastern part of the state- Boston, Dorchester, etc.
Number of positive cases are increasingly becoming an obsolete measure. Hospitalization and serious illness are far more relevant. I’ve had multiple patients, family and friends who despite precautions have gotten CV19. None, as all were vaxed have been serious. Many were very mild or asymptomatic .