Easthampton is back in the green! The 7-day and 14-day average cases per 100,000 population is under 10 and percent positivity is well below 5%. The 14-day average cases per 100,000 population is down again in Hampshire and Hampden Counties as well.
The trend in Easthampton and Western Massachusetts matches the United States trend right now. The delta variant caused a surge of new cases that peaked at slightly different times in different areas of the country but cases are declining in most areas. Notably, this is not true of a few states, and case rate remains high in general in the United States. It's hard to predict what will happen next - continued decline in cases and no holiday surge? A partial decline and then a surge in cases related to the holidays? We can look to other countries to help us understand what might happen next, but the SARS-CoV-2 virus is unpredictable. In the UK, cases are increasing again. That's not true of other countries with delta peaks, however, such as India and Japan.
While we can't perfectly predict what will happen next, we do know what works. If you haven't been vaccinated yet and you're eligible, make an appointment. Keep masking (with high quality, well-fitting masks) and keep those windows open. Next week we'll cover the science behind masking more thoroughly and in a couple weeks we'll cover vaccine booster recommendations.
Stay well,