Boston Public Health Commission figures released on Friday show the South End now has the highest rate of COVID-19 infection among city neighborhoods - its 282 confirmed cases as of Thursday give it a rate of 78.9 cases per 10,000 people, compared to a rate of 66.6 in the neighborhood with the next highest rate, Hyde Park.

The commission does not provide any possible explanations for the high numbers in the South End, which reflect a fourfold increase over its numbers last week.

However, earlier this week, city officials said they had conducted "universal" testing at some city homeless shelters, two of the largest of which, the Pine Street Inn and Rosie's Place, are both in the South End, so it is possible the high rate reflects increased testing in 02118, or that the numbers reflect a particular outbreak of Covid-19 among the city's homeless population, or both.

In Dorchester, a total of 613 COVID-19 cases had been reported through April 9 out of the total number of known citywide cases— 2,848.
Mattapan had 169, according to the city analysis.

The Dorchester zip codes 02122 and 02124 had a rate of known infection of 54.9 per 10,000 residents, according to BPHC. The zips 02125 and 02121 were slightly lower at 50.3 per 10,000 resident. That compares to the citywide rate of 41.9/10,000.

A task force appointed by Mayor Walsh will focus on a higher rate of infection among black residents than in other groups, as well as higher-than-average rates in Hyde Park, Mattapan and part of Dorchester.

Portions of this article were originally published on Universal Hub, a media partner of DotNews.