LYNN — As coronavirus cases continue to rise in Lynn, new health data shows the city has the worst outbreak in the state.
Lynn has the second highest positive test rate in the state over the past 14 days, at 7.09 percent, which is nearly five times the state average of 1.5 percent, according to the state Department of Public Health.
But the city’s undesirable runner-up position is only a technicality, as the state leader, Russell, has a positive rate of 9.09 percent based on just four positive tests out of 44 people tested the past 14 days.
The Hampden County town has a population of less than 2,000, according to the most recent census.
By comparison, data released Wednesday night shows that Lynn, a city with a population more than 94,000, has 395 positive tests out of 5,569 people tested in the past 14 days.
Rounding out the top five for positive rates is Chesterfield, another town with a miniscule population (1,222 according to the 2010 census), which has a rate of 6.67 percent, and two other urban areas that have been hit hard by the virus, Revere, at 5.4 percent, and Chelsea at 4.95 percent.
Not far behind is Everett, at 4.28 percent, and Salem at 3.87 percent.
Lynn’s rate far exceeds its nearest comparable runner-up, Revere, and is more than two percentage points higher than Chelsea, which was an early hot spot for the coronavirus.
With 395 positive tests, Lynn trails only Boston for the highest number in the state over the past 14 days. The state capital has 744 positive tests over that time period, but its positive test rate is much lower, at 2.08 percent.
Lynn reported 10 new cases on Thursday to bring the city’s total number of cases to 4,416. Of that total, 642 cases are active, as 111 people have died and 3,663 have recovered from the virus, according to city data.
Revere, another city experiencing a virus surge, reported 14 new cases on Thursday, and is averaging 13 new cases per day over the past week. The city now has 2,259 cases, but 2,049 people have recovered and 94 have died, according to the city website.
Elsewhere, Swampscott also reported new cases on Thursday. The town has diagnosed seven new cases since Aug. 12, which brings its totals to 153 cases and 10 deaths.
Numbers remained the same in Lynnfield (109 cases, 11 deaths) and Nahant (50 cases, six deaths) on Thursday and were not updated in Marblehead, Peabody or Saugus.
As of Wednesday, Marblehead had 261 cases and 30 deaths, Peabody had 1,203 cases and 175 deaths, and Saugus had 628 cases and 39 deaths.
