MA Town-By-Town Coronavirus: Over 100 Towns Report No New Cases

MASSACHUSETTS — Just five Massachusetts cities and towns have coronavirus positive test rates above 2 percent, according to the latest Department of Health town-by-town report. Over 100 communities didn't report a single positive test over the last two weeks.

The weekly average case count fell to just 52 cases statewide as vaccination rates continued to rise. Officials estimate that there are fewer than 2,000 active cases across the state.

The state reported continued declines across all metrics Thursday, with the weekly-average positive test rate falling to 0.32 percent from 0.38 percent last week. The Department of Public Health reported 78 coronavirus cases, four deaths and 16,636 vaccine doses administered Thursday.

Vaccines

The latest vaccine report shows the number of residents who are fully vaccinated has risen to 4.125 million. Another 526,574 have received one dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.

More than 60 percent of the state's population has been fully vaccinated, but some communities lagged far behind, according to state data. Twenty-eight communities reported fewer than half their residents are even partially vaccinated, whereas more than 95 percent of residents are vaccinated in six cities and towns.

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.

Of the 9.56 million doses the state has received, 89 percent have been administered.

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 total vaccination numbers for grey communities. Some communities are grouped together for the purpose of vaccination data.

The map does not include 1,009 of the state's cases because state health officials could not determine which communities the patients lived in.

Other Key Coronavirus Metrics

The weekly average death rate was 3.1 per day. The average case rate and hospitalization rate fell and there were 1,636 estimated active cases, according to the daily dashboard.

There were just 51 average daily new cases.

The seven-day average number of hospitalized patients was 104, down from 135 a week prior. There were 29 patients in intensive care.

The positive test rate over the last two weeks fell in 122 — or 34.8 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate rose in 58 — or 16.5 percent — of the communities and held steady in the remaining 171.

Only five communities reported positive test rates over 2 percent over the last two weeks: Freetown, Hardwick, Sheffield, Southbridge and Heath.

There were 1.2 average daily cases per 100,000 residents of the state over that period, down from 1.6 last week.

To date, there have been 663,478 cases and 17,622 deaths statewide since the pandemic began.

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The state reported 32,769 new tests Thursday, bringing the total to 23.7 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 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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