WESTFIELD- The City of Westfield and the Town of Southwick both had the lowest number of new cases of COVID-19 this week since the virus was first detected in the area.
In Westfield, 14 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed since May 6. In Southwick, there has been one new confirmed case since May 8.
Although the low number of new cases is encouraging to some, city officials have asked people to keep doing what they have been doing to keep themselves healthy.
“We don’t want anyone to think that this is a clear victory and that we can go back to normal,” said Westfield Emergency Management Director Jim Wiggs. “If we can keep doing what we are doing, we can turn some of those daily counts of two or three into zeros.”
There has been at least one day in the last week where there were no new confirmed cases in Westfield. Fifty Westfield residents have died from COVID-19 complications as of May 13.
In Southwick, Public Health Nurse Kate Johnson said during the May 14 Board of Health meeting that 364 residents have been tested so far, which would equate to approximately 3.7 percent of the town’s population. Thirty-four of those tests took place in the last week.
Johnson said that there has not been a single case in Southwick where the patient was under the age of 22.
The single new case for the week brings the total of confirmed cases to 49, with two deaths in Southwick attributed to COVID-19.
As May 18 approaches, the date on which phase one of the Massachusetts reopening plan is set to begin, some officials said there should be no surprise if there is an uptick in cases.
Southwick Board of Health member Dr. Jerry Azia said he expects the case numbers to go up again in the days and weeks immediately following May 18 if the state begins opening businesses.
