A New Map Shows Coronavirus Cases in Boston, by Zip Code

The COVID-19 crisis continues to rage through all corners of Boston, as non-essential employees remain locked down in their homes, and health care workers continue caring for the sick at the height of the surge in patients. New data from the Boston Public Health Commission offers a nearly neighborhood-by-neighborhood look at how cases are distributed around the city. Previously, the total count released publicly had only been for the number of cases in the city as a whole, but these new figures offer data on confirmed cases, as well as the total number of tests administered, by zip code.

For the record, the numbers are only as accurate as the state’s current capacity for testing allows, and experts caution that the true total count of cases is likely much higher than the official one. Many people who have been infected with the virus have not yet shown symptoms, and it may not be clear how many have contracted the virus until widespread antibody tests—like the ones planned for East Boston, Roslindale, and parts of Dorchester—can say conclusively.

Also, some of the publicly released figures reflect data from one zip code, while others contain the combined data collected from multiple zip codes (for example, numbers from the North End, Beacon Hill, Downtown, the West End, and Back Bay are presented as a unit). The map includes the long-abandoned Long Island, as it technically shares a zip code with parts of Dorchester, but there are no known cases there. Death figures by zip code are not being released publicly due to privacy concerns.

So here are the latest numbers as of April 22, which we’ve plotted on a map. Officials have said the plan is to release a new batch of data weekly.

Map based on data provided by the Boston Public Health Commission through 4/29/2020 and updated weekly. Zip codes with no reported data have been excluded from the map.