Worcester County's COVID new cases flat; Massachusetts cases holding steady
Massachusetts reported 9,826 new cases of coronavirus in the week ending Sunday, from 9,886 the week before of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Massachusetts ranked 36th 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 decreased 9.7% from the week before, with 593,153 cases reported. With 2.07% of the country's population, Massachusetts had 1.66% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 12 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
Worcester County reported 1,571 cases and 16 deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 1,548 cases and 20 deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 93,367 cases and 2,384 deaths.
Within Massachusetts, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Worcester County with 189 cases per 100,000 per week; Bristol County with 182; and Hampden County with 171. 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 1,624 cases; Worcester County, with 1,571 cases; and Essex County, with 1,127. Weekly case counts rose in seven counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Berkshire, Norfolk and Middlesex counties.
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Massachusetts ranked 1st among states in share of people receiving at least one shot, with 78.8% of its residents at least partially vaccinated. The national rate is 65.9%, 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 139,263 vaccine doses, including 41,144 first doses. In the previous week, the state administered 176,931 vaccine doses, including 54,183 first doses. In all, Massachusetts reported it has administered 10,114,825 total doses.
Across Massachusetts, cases fell in five counties, with the best declines in Bristol County, with 1,028 cases from 1,121 a week earlier; in Plymouth County, with 654 cases from 744; and in Suffolk County, with 812 cases from 889.
In Massachusetts, 82 people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 99 people were were reported dead.
A total of 833,311 people in Massachusetts have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 18,828 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 44,933,336 people have tested positive and 724,317 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 Sunday, Oct. 17.
- Last week: 931
- The week before that: 863
- Four weeks ago: 992
- Last week: 80,739
- The week before that: 84,704
- Four weeks ago: 111,294
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.