Gov. Charlie Baker announced on Tuesday a further easing of coronavirus restrictions in low-risk communities throughout the commonwealth, loosening indoor and outdoor gathering requirements and allowing performance venues, gyms, libraries and museums to increase capacity.

The changes apply to the Vineyard, which has been deemed low risk by the state, but not communities that have seen recent spikes in cases, including Nantucket.

At a press briefing Wednesday, Governor Baker said Massachusetts has one of the lowest rates of Covid-19 transmission in the country, with a positive test rate of 0.9 per cent and a rate of less than one per cent for 35 straight days.

The continued low case numbers prompted officials to move forward with the next step of the state’s gradual reopening process, which will begin Oct. 5.

“Overall, we’ve seen significant progress statewide in our effort to contain Covid-19,” the governor said. “That means that most communities have been successful in stopping the spread of the virus by making changes in their daily behavior.”

In a press release that went out shortly before the briefing, the governor’s office announced that low-risk communities — or any community that has not been labeled red by the state in the past three weeks — could proceed with step two of the third reopening phase.

About 30 communities cannot move forward with the changes, those reporting average daily case rates of more than eight per 100,000 people in recent weeks. Nantucket, which is the only Cape and Islands community in the red, has reported 21 cases in the past seven days, far more than the threshold.

With the new changes, indoor performance venues will now be permitted to open with 50 per cent capacity and a maximum of 250 people, outdoor performance venue capacity will increase to 50 per cent with a maximum of 250 people, and gyms, libraries and museums will be allowed to increase their capacity to 50 per cent.

Indoor recreational activities, like roller rinks, obstacle courses, trampolines and laser tag will be allowed to open at 50 per cent capacity. The state also loosened its gathering restrictions, with outdoor gatherings at public events and spaces increased to 100 people in low-risk communities. Indoor gathering limits remain at 25 people in all communities, while outdoor gatherings in private spaces are now limited to 50 people.

The state reopening process began in early summer and slowly inched along through its first two phases, allowing restaurants and retail businesses, shuttered for months, to reopen with strict social-distancing guidelines by mid-summer. But the reopening process lost momentum as case numbers increased throughout the country, prompting the governor to institute travel restrictions and extending phase three.

Bars, nightclubs and a few other businesses still remain closed entirely, and likely won’t reopen until the fourth phase of the governor’s plan.

If a low-risk community enters the red zone threshold for case incidence, it will have to revert back to the first step of the phase three guidelines.

In a case update that came out later in the day, the Island boards of health reported one new case of Covid-19 on the Vineyard. The new case — a male in his thirties — was reported by TestMV, and brings the Island's number of laboratory (PCR) positive cases to 75. The total number of coronavirus cases on the Island is now at 99, including antibody positive patients and symptomatic diagnoses.

Nantucket has reported 126 laboratory positive cases of the coronavirus.

Governor Baker said Tuesday that the new regulations and eased restrictions put the commonwealth more in line with other states in the region — all of which have experienced low case numbers since initial spikes in April.

“We’ve seen that the activities we are moving forward with today have not led to significant transmission in other states,” he said.

And with public health officials reporting a recent slight rise in case numbers throughout the state, Governor Baker said it was important to maintain social distancing and for people to continue to wear face coverings in public, especially as the weather changes and residents spend more time indoors.

“It’s quite possible that Massachusetts may see more cases as people head indoors in the fall,” the governor said. “We’ve proven we can contain this virus. We’ve proven we can open our economy. But we need to stay vigilant.”