MA Town-By-Town COVID: Cases Down Statewide As CDC Guidance Relaxes

MASSACHUSETTS — On the same day the Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported decreasing COVID-19 case and hospitalization rates, the CDC lessened its recommendations for virus restrictions.

Specifically, the CDC lifted the requirement to quarantine if exposed to COVID-19, de-emphasized screening asymptomatic people and eliminated recommending test-to-stay programs in schools.

"This guidance acknowledges that the pandemic is not over, but also helps us move to a point where COVID-19 no longer severely disrupts our daily lives," said the CDC's Dr. Greta Massetti.

As that news was shared nationally, Massachusetts also saw some positive trends with its key coronavirus metrics. Case rates statewide headed in the right direction for a fourth straight week.

The weekly average case count was 1,004.1 daily cases, down from 1,005.7 last week. At the early January peak of the omicron surge, the state reported more than 23,000 average daily cases.

On Thursday, state data showed COVID-19 case rates increase in 102 Massachusetts cities and towns. Massachusetts also saw 188 communities with decreasing COVID-19 rates and 46 with no change.

The average daily hospitalization rate went from 569.7 last week to 561.9. As of Wednesday, 560 Massachusetts residents were hospitalized with COVID-19, the same as last week.

But not all COVID-19 metrics in Massachusetts headed in the right direction.

The statewide seven-day positive test rate increased slightly from 7.97 percent last week to 8.05 percent Thursday.

At the community level, 149 Massachusetts cities and towns saw their positivity rates increase, 161 saw them decrease, and 26 had no change.

As for deaths, there were 7.7 deaths per day over the last week, up slightly from seven a week ago.

The Department of Public Health on Thursday reported 8,950 new coronavirus cases in the last week, as well as 39 new deaths and 3,309 vaccine doses administered.

The latest state vaccine report showed the number of fully vaccinated residents rose to about 5.44 million. Booster doses were given to about 3.18 million residents. Of those boosted, 674,402 received a second booster.

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.

The data also did not include 1,679 of the state's cases because state health officials could not determine which communities the patients lived in.

Other Key Coronavirus Metrics

Of the 560 hospitalized patients, 57 were in intensive care Wednesday, the same as a week ago, state health officials said. Twelve patients were intubated statewide.

According to the Department of Public Health, 25.7 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 1,821,987 confirmed cases and 19,978 deaths statewide since the pandemic began.

The state reported 122,739 new tests Thursday, bringing the total administered to about 46.81 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.