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

MASSACHUSETTS — Massachusetts saw most of its key coronavirus metrics head in the wrong direction Thursday, according to data released by the Department of Public Health.

The only key metric to head in the right direction was case rates statewide. The COVID-19 positivity rate, hospitalization rate and death rate all increased in Massachusetts.

The statewide seven-day positive test rate increased from 7.87 percent last week to 8.17 percent Thursday. For three straight weeks, the positivity rate has remained higher than it was when the original omicron subvariant began losing steam at the end of January.

At the community level, 217 Massachusetts cities and towns saw their positivity rates increase, 96 saw them decrease, and 23 had no change.

Another other key coronavirus metric to rise was the hospitalization rate. The average hospitalizations went from 511.3 last week to 557. As of Wednesday, 589 Massachusetts residents were hospitalized with COVID-19.

The weekly average case count was 1,122.7 daily cases, down from 1,200.3 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 150 Massachusetts cities and towns. Massachusetts also saw 152 communities with decreasing COVID-19 rates and 34 with no change.

As for deaths, there were 6.7 deaths per day over the last week, up from 5.6 per day a week ago.

The Department of Public Health on Thursday reported 10,250 new coronavirus cases in the last week, as well as 42 new deaths and 5,131 vaccine doses administered.

The latest state vaccine report showed the number of fully vaccinated residents rose to more than 5.42 million. Booster doses were given to about 3.15 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 1,659 of the state's cases because state health officials could not determine which communities the patients lived in.

Other Key Coronavirus Metrics

Of the 589 hospitalized patients, 52 were in intensive care Wednesday, up six from a week ago, state health officials said. Twenty patients were intubated statewide.

According to the Department of Public Health, 32.1 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-nine percent of the state's hospitalized patients on Wednesday were vaccinated.

To date, there have been 1,793,437 confirmed cases and 19,860 deaths statewide since the pandemic began.

The state reported 135,653 new tests Thursday, bringing the total administered to more than 46.42 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.