MA Hits New High With 6,477 Coronavirus Cases, 5% Positive Rate

MASSACHUSETTS — The Massachusetts Department of Public Health on Thursday reported by far the highest single-day coronavirus case total, for the second day in a row surpassing the peak from the virus's first wave in April.

The state reported 6,477 new cases, up nearly 2,000 from Wednesday and more than double the high reported in the spring. That included a 680-case backlog due to a technical issue at a laboratory, the state said.

After touring a new coronavirus field hospital Thursday, Gov. Charlie Baker downplayed Wednesday's record high, noting it came alongside 100,000 new tests.

"One day does not make a trend," he said, adding "all options remain on the table" to fight the spread of the virus.

But the numbers continued to grow Thursday and the state reported a weekly average positive test rate above 5 percent Thursday for the first time since early June. That number was under 4 percent a week ago.

The latest town-by-town report labeled 97 Massachusetts communities as high risk for the virus, up from 81 last week. The majority of the state's cities and towns reported rising test rates.

State officials announced 49 more deaths Thursday. The seven-day average of hospitalized patients increased to 1,324, compared to 963 last Friday.

During a news conference Thursday, Baker drew a difference between this surge and the spring. People over 70 are being hospitalized at much lower rates this fall and hospitalizations have been growing at about 2 to 3 percent per day — in the spring, Massachusetts saw 4,000 hospitalizations in a little over a month.

There were 261 patients in intensive care Thursday, the state said. In late April, there were over 1,000 such patients.

Baker said doctors have new tools to treat the virus, including drugs like remdesivir and convalescent plasma. But he also added hospitals will almost certainly face additional strain in the coming weeks and months. Officials announced a new field hospital will open in Lowell within a month, and another may open in the southeastern part of the state.

To date, there have been 232,264 cases and 10,637 deaths statewide since the pandemic began. Officials estimate that there were 49,225 active cases as of Thursday.

The positive test rate over the last two weeks increased in 209 — or 59.5 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate fell in 88 — or 25.1 percent of — communities and held steady in the remaining 54.

There were 35.7 average daily cases per 100,000 residents, up from 34.9 last week.

The following communities were designated high risk Friday: Attleboro, Barnstable, Bellingham, Berkley, Blackstone, Boxford, Brockton, Chelmsford, Chelsea, Chicopee, Clinton, Dartmouth, Dighton, Douglas, Dracut, East Longmeadow, Edgartown, Everett, Fairhaven, Fall River, Framingham, Freetown, Gardner, Georgetown, Hampden, Haverhill, Holyoke, Hopedale, Lancaster, Lawrence, Leicester, Lenox, Leominster, Littleton, Lowell, Ludlow, Lunenburg, Lynn, Malden, Marion, Mendon, Merrimac, Methuen, Middleton, Milford, Millbury, Monson, New Bedford, Norfolk, Oak Bluffs, Paxton, Peabody, Rehoboth, Revere, Rutland, Salisbury, Saugus, Seekonk, Shirley, Somerset, Southbridge, Southwick, Springfield, Sterling, Sutton, Swansea, Taunton, Templeton, Tisbury, Tyngsborough, Upton, Uxbridge, Wenham, West Boylston, West Springfield, Westminster, Westport, Whitman, Winchendon and Woburn.

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. Over 100 towns had positive test rates at or above 5 percent over the last two weeks, up from 76 last week.

Just 82 communities had positive rates below 2 percent.

The state reported 111,734 new tests Thursday, bringing the total to 8.7 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 is continuing to release town-by-town testing data, 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 622 of the state's cases because state health officials could not determine which communities the patients lived in.

Pin colors correspond to changes in positive test rates: cities and towns with rising test rates are marked red, those with falling test rates are marked green and those with level test rates are yellow.