MA Town-By-Town Coronavirus Stats: Just 13 High-Risk Communities

MASSACHUSETTS — Massachusetts reported declines across all coronavirus metrics again Thursday, with the positive test rate falling to 1.37 percent from 1.67 percent last week.

The weekly average death rate fell to 7.6 deaths per day, the lowest level on record.

The average case rate and hospitalization rate also fell.

The Department of Public Health labeled just 13 communities as high risk for the coronavirus, down from 26 in the previous report. The remaining high-risk, or red, communities are Brockton, Chicopee, Dracut, Edgartown, Haverhill, Lawrence, Littleton, Lowell, Nantucket, New Bedford, Rochester, Springfield and Taunton.

The state reported 1,004 coronavirus cases, five deaths and 97,118 vaccine doses Thursday.

The latest vaccine report shows the number of residents who are fully vaccinated has risen to 2.77 million. Another 1.17 million have received one dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.

Of the 7.6 million doses the state has received, 83.8 percent have been administered.

The seven-day average number of hospitalized patients was 526, down from 625 a week prior. There were 137 patients in intensive care.

The positive test rate over the last two weeks fell in 229 — or 65.2 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate rose in 72 — or 20.5 percent — of the communities and held steady in the remaining 50. Two-week confirmed case counts rose in 61 communities.

There were 15.9 average daily cases per 100,000 residents of the state over that period, down from 20 last week.

To date, there have been 650,859 cases and 17,311 deaths statewide since the pandemic began. Officials estimated there were 20,498 active cases as of Thursday.

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Health officials say positive coronavirus test results need to stay below 5 percent for two weeks or longer and, preferably, be closer to 2 percent, for states to safely ease restrictions. The number of communities reporting rates above 5 percent fell from 35 to 19.

The state reported 105,102 new tests Thursday, bringing the total to 21.8 million.

The data includes coronavirus cases for all Massachusetts communities, except for those with populations under 50,000 and 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.

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How to use this map: Zoom in on the map below and click on a pin to see that community's coronavirus case data. You can also view the town-by-town coronavirus data in the spreadsheet we used to create this map.

The map does not include 1,116 of the state's cases because state health officials could not determine which communities the patients lived in.

Pin colors correspond to the state's risk designations. Red pins are high-risk, or red, communities. Yellow pins are medium risk, green pins low risk and grey pins at most 15 total cases for communities over 50,000 people and 10 for smaller communities.