Bristol County's COVID cases up 30.8%; Mass. cases surge 21.8%
New coronavirus cases leaped in Massachusetts in the week ending Sunday, rising 21.8% as 13,931 cases were reported. The previous week had 11,438 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Massachusetts ranked 45th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States increased 1.1% from the week before, with 1,030,256 cases reported. With 2.07% of the country's population, Massachusetts had 1.35% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 36 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
Some governments may have delayed reporting across the Labor Day holiday, and people who normally would have been tested might not have been tested then. Week-to-week comparisons may be inaccurate.
Bristol County reported 1,385 cases and eight deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 1,059 cases and 11 deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 74,852 cases and 1,803 deaths.
Newport County reported 125 cases and three deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 144 cases and 12 deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 8,001 cases and 47 deaths.
Within Massachusetts, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Hampshire County with 358 cases per 100,000 per week; Hampden County with 346; and Bristol County with 245. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.
Adding the most new cases overall were Middlesex County, with 2,101 cases; Worcester County, with 1,879 cases; and Hampden County, with 1,614. Weekly case counts rose in 11 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Suffolk, Hampden and Bristol counties.
>> See how your community has fared with recent coronavirus cases
Massachusetts ranked 2nd among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 76.7% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 63.8%, a USA TODAY analysis of CDC data shows. The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which are the most used in the United States, require two doses administered a few weeks apart.
In the week ending Sunday, Massachusetts reported administering another 69,400 vaccine doses, including 33,330 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 76,828 vaccine doses, including 35,922 first doses. In all, Massachusetts reported it has administered 9,673,546 total doses.
In Massachusetts, 96 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 63 people were were reported dead.
A total of 790,953 people in Massachusetts have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 18,445 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 42,087,432 people have tested positive and 673,763 people have died.
Note: For Massachusetts, Johns Hopkins University reports data in a combined health department for Dukes and Nantucket counties. Those two counties may appear without any cases, and this will skew rankings of counties.
>> Track coronavirus cases across the United States
USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Wednesday, Sept. 8.
Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:
- Last week: 935
- The week before that: 959
- Four weeks ago: 802
Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:
- Last week: 121,201
- The week before that: 128,256
- Four weeks ago: 111,242
The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.
