MA Town-By-Town COVID-19: Positivity Rate Rises Above 8%

MASSACHUSETTS — Coronavirus cases are still rising in Massachusetts, with the positivity rate rising above 8 percent for the first time since the end of January, when the omicron surge was waning.

Positivity rates are still much lower than they were at the peak of the omicron wave in January, but have been steadily increasing since the end of March. According to state COVID-19 data, the seven-day positive test rate increased, from 6.17 percent last week to 8.24 percent Thursday.

Positivity test rates rose in more than 260 Massachusetts cities and towns. In Massachusetts, 262 communities saw the rate increase, 21 had no change, and 53 saw it drop, the public health department said.

Covid-19 case counts also rose in 283 Massachusetts communities, stayed the same in 19 and decreased in 34, state data showed.

The average number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in Massachusetts is also up 34.2 percent since last week.

The seven-day average number of hospitalized patients was 664.1, up from 494.9 last week, according to the Department of Public Health. As of Wednesday, 729 Massachusetts residents were hospitalized with COVID-19.

There were also 7.1 deaths per day over the last week, up from 4.4 a week ago.

Cases have been on the rise since the third week of March because of the omicron subvariant BA.2. Over the last five weeks, hospitalizations also started heading in the wrong direction.

The Department of Public Health on Thursday also reported 5,576 new coronavirus cases, 16 deaths and 13,004 vaccine doses administered.

The weekly average case count was 2,854.6 daily cases, up from 2,198.3 a week before. At the early January peak of the omicron surge, the state reported more than 23,000 average daily cases.

The latest state vaccine report showed the number of fully vaccinated residents rose to more than 5.37 million. Booster doses were given to about 3.02 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.

The data also did not include 1,633 of the state's cases because state health officials could not determine which communities the patients lived in.

Other Key Coronavirus Metrics

Of the 547 hospitalized patients, 66 were in intensive care Wednesday, up 11 from a week before, state health officials said.

According to the Department of Public Health, 32 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-six percent of the state's hospitalized patients on Wednesday were vaccinated.

To date, there have been 1,659,250 confirmed cases and 19,243 deaths statewide since the pandemic began.

Did you find this article useful? Invite a friend to subscribe to Patch.

The state reported 70,283 new tests Thursday, bringing the total administered to about 44.4 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.

Don't miss updates about precautions in your area as they are announced. Sign up for Patch news alerts and newsletters.