MA Town-By-Town Coronavirus Stats: Metrics Resume Decline

MASSACHUSETTS — The coronavirus positive test rate fell back below 2 percent and other metrics continued to decline, according to the latest data released Thursday by the Department of Public Health.

At the town level, roughly 37 percent of communities reported falling positive test rates, while 45 percent reported rising rates, according to town-by-town data released Thursday. Twenty-two Massachusetts communities didn't report a single positive test over the last two weeks, up two from the last report.

The Department of Public Health reported 1,267 new coronavirus cases, 20 deaths and 26,416 vaccine doses administered Thursday.

The seven-day average number of hospitalized patients was 549.9, down from 552.1 the week prior.

There were 9 deaths per day on average over the last week, down from 11 a week before.

The weekly average case count was 957 daily cases, down from 1,272.9 a week earlier.

The weekly average positive-test rate fell from 1.89 percent to 1.82 percent.

The lowest positive rate was 0.31 percent on June 25.

Vaccines

The latest vaccine report shows the number of residents who are fully vaccinated has risen to 4.71 million. Another 516,106 residents have received one dose of the two-dose Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.

Booster doses have been given to 295,444 residents.

Over two-thirds of the state's population, 69.1 percent, is fully vaccinated, but some communities lag behind, according to state data. Fifteen communities continue to report that fewer than half their residents are even partially vaccinated. Compare that with the more than 90 percent of residents fully vaccinated in 12 cities and towns.

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

Colors reflect the percentage of the population fully vaccinated, from under 50 percent, red, to more than 70 percent, green. The state did not report vaccination numbers for the two gray communities. Some communities are grouped together for the purpose of vaccination data.

Note: For dozens of communities, up to 30 vaccinations may be missing from the data, as the state does not report totals for demographic subgroups with fewer than 30 vaccinated. No vaccination data is available for two communities with particularly low populations: Gosnold and Monroe.

The data also does not include 967 of the state's cases because state health officials could not determine which communities the patients lived in.

Other Key Coronavirus Metrics

Of 532 hospitalized patients, there were 142 patients in intensive care Wednesday, no change from a week prior.

The positive test rate over the last two weeks fell in 131 — or 37.3 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate rose in 158 — or 45.0 percent — of the communities. It held steady in the remaining 62.

Sixty-three percent of communities reported positive test rates higher than 2 percent during the past two weeks, including 44 with test rates above 5 percent — up two from last week. The highest rate, 13.6 percent, was reported by Leyden.

Statewide, there were 18.5 average daily cases per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks, down from 19.0 in last week's report.

To date, there have been 784,800 cases and 18,505 deaths statewide since the pandemic began.

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The state reported 93,274 new tests Thursday, bringing the total administered to 30.4 million.

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