COVID-19 illustration by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
FALMOUTH – COVID-19 case count numbers recently increased again in Falmouth as Barnstable County’s community risk level remains high based off the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) guidelines.
“There’s a lot of COVID out right now and it doesn’t seem to be showing that it’s leveling off. It actually increased a fair amount from this week to last week” said Scott McGann, Falmouth Health Agent.
McGann gave a COVID update on May 13 and shared there were 122 confirmed cases in Falmouth during the 7-day period ending May 12, with another 18 probable cases the same period from rapid tests.
Since the official case counts do not include at-home tests, McGann said that the true number of cases in the community is possibly two to three times higher than the reported totals.
McGann said the town’s 14-day average positivity rate was 8.8 percent for April 24 through May 7, an uptick from the previous period’s rate of 7.3 percent.
According to McGann, hospitalizations from COVID are likely to increase since there is so much community spread, but not to the same levels they did in January of this year.
The health agent said there are no mask mandates or advisories coming from the town or the state, but he noted people should consider masking based on their own individual circumstances and risk tolerance.
McGann also said there is a chance numbers may drop with summer approaching.
“Historically, the two summers we’ve had COVID the numbers have been on the low. So, my hope is you’ll see them come down eventually and then in the summertime be low. That’s the hope anyway.”
By Brian Engles, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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