Wareham’s coronavirus case rate took it out of the green and into the yellow in this week’s public health report from the state.
The state reported 16 cases over the last two weeks, bringing the case rate to between 4 and 8 cases per 100,000 people.

While the town is still “lower-risk,” as defined by the state, a further increase in cases could jeopardize that status and force the town to return to Phase 3, Step 1 restrictions -- that would mean fitting rooms would close and capacity limits at gyms would be reduced.

Green represents an average daily case rate of less than four per 100,000 people. Yellow represents a rate between four and eight per 100,000, and red indicates a rate higher than eight per 100,000 people.

The state defines lower risk communities as cities and towns that have not been in the red category in any of the last three weekly Department of Public Health reports. 

At Tuesday night’s Board of Selectmen meeting, Town Administrator Derek Sullivan stressed the importance of continuing to wear masks and practice social distancing, even though it may be frustrating with no definitive end in sight. 

“We’ve all gone through a lot in the past seven months,” Sullivan said, but he added that it is important to stay diligent because while one person may be asymptomatic, another person in the same household could be severely impacted by the virus.

There are sometimes discrepancies between town and state reporting. Sullivan said that for example, if employees of a Wareham business tested positive, but do not actually live in town, different sources may report that data differently. 

According to Sullivan, the town now has 14 active cases, with nine new cases being reported in the last week. 

He added that there have been a total of 25 new cases reported in town since September 1.