Waltham’s COVID-19 Positivity Rate Rises Despite Statewide Drop

WALTHAM, MA — Waltham's positive COVID-19 test rate is now at 19 percent, a 4.6 percent increase since last week, according to the latest municipal-level data released by the Department of Public Health Thursday.

This week, the City of Waltham reported a two-week case count of 2,156 compared to last week's case count of 1,357. Also over the past week, Waltham was adding 231.8 new cases per day per 100,000 people. That's higher than the 145.9 cases per 100,000 in Waltham measured on Jan. 7.

On Thursday afternoon, the state Department of Public Health reported 18,721 new coronavirus cases statewide and 36 new deaths. Over 3,000 people were hospitalized with the virus, as of Wednesday.

The latest vaccine report shows the number of residents who are fully vaccinated has risen to 5.14 million. Just over 70 percent are fully vaccinated in Waltham, and over 79 percent are partially vaccinated.

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.