MA Town-By-Town COVID: Positivity Rate At Lowest Point Since July

MASSACHUSETTS — The coronavirus positive rate dropped to its lowest rate since the third week of July 2021, according to the latest Massachusetts Department of Public Health data released Thursday.

All key COVID-19 metrics, including deaths, cases and hospitalizations, declined statewide. The seven-day positive test rate dropped slightly from 1.6 percent to 1.59 percent over the last week.

Despite coronavirus metrics statewide continuing to head in the right direction, infection rates rose in nearly 100 communities. In Massachusetts, case counts dropped in 191 communities, stayed the same in 48 and rose in 97.

The trend was similar with the positivity rate. With that, 193 communities saw it decrease, 49 saw no change and 94 saw it rise.

The Department of Public Health on Thursday reported 899 new coronavirus cases, 10 deaths and 5,487 vaccine doses administered.

The seven-day average number of hospitalized patients was 234.1, down from 313 the week before.

The weekly average case count was 481.1 daily cases, down from 513 a week before. At the early January peak of the omicron surge, the state reported more than 23,000 average daily cases.

There were 7.6 deaths per day over the last week, down from 19.3 a week ago.

The latest vaccine report showed the number of fully vaccinated residents rose to about 5.31 million. Booster doses were given to more than 2.89 million residents.

Community-Level Data

How to use this maps Zoom in on the map below, 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 represent if a community's case counts are decreasing, staying the same, or increasing. Blue dots mean a community has a lower case count from the previous week. Yellow means they stayed the same, and red means higher.

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

The data also did not include 1,887 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 228 hospitalized patients, 29 were in intensive care Wednesday, down 11 from a week before.

According to the Department of Public Health, 34 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. Sixty-one percent of the state's hospitalized patients on Wednesday were vaccinated.

To date, there have been 1,551,810 confirmed cases and 18,926 deaths statewide since the pandemic began.

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The state reported 54,409 new tests Thursday, bringing the total administered to 41.75 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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