Massachusetts Test-And-Trace Regime Best In Nation: Report

MASSACHUSETTS — Massachusetts has the best coronavirus testing and tracing regime in the country, according to an analysis by #TestAndTrace, an organization working to help implement the virus-suppression system in the United States.

The organization tracks the amount of testing and contact tracing done by each state, and awards points to states with low rates of positive results and high numbers of tracers per positive test.

According to the organization's data, the state's seven-day average positive test rate is 2.41 percent, below their 3 percent benchmark. The state also employs 12 tracers per positive test, far above their benchmark of five.

Ten other states met both benchmarks, including neighbors like New York and Connecticut that were hit hard by the virus's first wave as well as a handful of states that have not had major outbreaks. Only New York, the state hit hardest by the virus's first wave, beats Massachusetts in tracers per positive test.

Massachusetts has 2,500 contact tracers according to the latest #TestAndTrace data, over 1,000 more than necessary to trace every infection within 24 hours.

The #TestAndTrace analysis aligns with other recent reports. The group Covid Act Now judges the state to be one of only four that are "on track to contain COVID," along with New York, Connecticut and New Jersey.

Recent health metrics bear that out: on Tuesday, Massachusetts reported no new coronavirus deaths, for the first time in months. The number of coronavirus patients in Massachusetts hospitals has dropped more than 75 percent since mid-April.

The state has even brought the virus down to a level where the contact tracing program has begun laying off workers. WCVB reported Friday that the Community Tracing Collaborative laid off 200 tracers because there is simply not enough work to do. More cuts are coming, WCVB reported.