MA Town-By-Town COVID-19: Cases Rise In 61% Of Communities

MASSACHUSETTS — Coronavirus cases increased in more than six out of 10 Massachusetts communities, according to the latest Massachusetts Department of Public Health data released Thursday.

Case counts rose in 205 communities, stayed the same in 44 and decreased in 87, state data showed. COVID-19 levels detected in the wastewater were also on the rise in Boston, according to sewage data from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.

According to state COVID-19 data, the seven-day positive test rate also increased, from 1.99 percent last week to 2.36 percent this week. Positivity rates are still much lower than they were at the peak of the omicron wave in January, but some health experts are beginning to notice some troubling signs.

First, the so-called "stealth omicron," a subvariant of the omicron variant known as BA.2, has made its way to the United States. Second, an extra-contagious delta-omicron hybrid, commonly called "deltacron," may soon push up U.S. cases.

Also, COVID-19 vaccines in general are less effective against the omicron variant, which includes BA.2, than they were against previous variants such as delta, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. Still, they offer strong protection against severe COVID-19 illness, according to the CDC.

Omicron BA.2 accounted for 72.6 percent of COVID-19 cases circulating across the state, compared with about half of new infections nationally, according to the CDC.

Still, most other key COVID-19 metrics, including deaths and hospitalizations, declined in Massachusetts, according to state health data.

Some key coronavirus metrics statewide continued to head in the right direction, but positivity test rates rose in almost 200 Massachusetts communities. In Massachusetts, 195 communities saw the rate increase, 44 had no change, and 97 saw it drop, the public health department said.

The Department of Public Health on Thursday also reported 1,472 new coronavirus cases, seven deaths and 7,365 vaccine doses administered.

The seven-day average number of hospitalized patients was 218.6, down from 225.1 the week before, according to the Department of Public Health.

The weekly average case count was 800.9 daily cases, up from 624.7 a week before. At the early January peak of the omicron surge, the state reported more than 23,000 average daily cases.

There were four deaths per day over the last week, down from 4.8 a week ago.

The latest state vaccine report showed the number of fully vaccinated residents rose to more than 5.32 million. Booster doses were given to about 2.93 million residents.

Community-Level Data

To use this map, zoom in and click on a pin to see that community's coronavirus vaccination rate or case numbers. You can also view the town-by-town coronavirus data here

Colors on the map represented if a community's case counts were decreasing, staying the same or increasing. Blue dots meant a community had a lower case count from the previous week. Yellow meant they stayed the same, and red meant higher.

For dozens of communities, up to 30 vaccinations may be missing from the data, as the state did not report totals for demographic subgroups with fewer than 30 vaccinated.

The data also did not include 1,813 of the state's cases because state health officials could not determine which communities the patients lived in. Vaccination rates in some communities, such as Brookline, Buckland and Lincoln, may be skewed by reporting issues, such as federal facilities or misalignment between ZIP code and municipal boundaries.

Other Key Coronavirus Metrics

Of the hospitalized patients, 32 were in intensive care Wednesday, down seven from a week before, state health officials said.

According to the Department of Public Health, 36 percent of the state's coronavirus hospitalizations over the last week were "primarily" hospitalized for the virus, versus "incidental" cases who tested positive while hospitalized for another reason. Fifty-eight percent of the state's hospitalized patients on Wednesday were vaccinated.

To date, there have been 1,564,394 confirmed cases and 18,996 deaths statewide since the pandemic began.

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The state reported 61,407 new tests Thursday, bringing the total administered to 42.37 million.

The data included coronavirus cases for all Massachusetts communities, except for those with populations under 50,000 and those with fewer than five cases. The department said the stipulation was designed to protect the privacy of patients in those towns and cities.

The state releases town-by-town testing data every Thursday, including the number of people tested, the testing rate, the positive test rate, cases and infection rates.

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