MA Tops 1,000 Coronavirus Cases A Day For First Time Since May

BOSTON, MA — Massachusetts reached an ominous level of coronavirus infection not seen since May on Saturday when it reported 1,128 new cases in one day.

The case level was the first time the state has passed the 1,000 mark since May 24 and pushes the total to 146,023 since the start of the pandemic in March.

The state reported eight new deaths for a total of 9,616 and a positivity rate of 1.5 percent.

The number of people hospitalized due to the virus rose to 547 in the state — 200 more patients than were counted as one of month ago. Four hospitals in the state were reported at surge capacity.

The five-month high comes amid rising surging numbers nationally where this week saw the highest single-day count of the entire pandemic.

This past week, the state announced 77 communities were designated high-risk for the coronavirus in the town-by-town data released by the state, up from 63 the week before. The state as a whole also remained above the high-risk threshold, reporting over eight average daily cases per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks.

The positive test rate over the last two weeks increased in 130 — or 37 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate fell in 90 — or 25.6 percent — communities and held steady in the remaining 131.

State rules mean that high-risk communities, plus others that were high-risk in the last two updates, cannot move on to the next phase of reopening. Towns were marked high-risk, or red, if they reported more than eight average daily confirmed COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past two weeks.

More Patch Coverage: MA Town-By-Town Coronavirus Stats: High-Risk List Keeps Growing

U.S. Sets New Record For Daily Virus Cases

This article originally appeared on the Boston Patch