MA Town-By-Town Coronavirus: Positive Rate Hits 10-Month High

MASSACHUSETTS — The Massachusetts coronavirus positive test rate reached its highest level since January Friday in the state's first report following the Thanksgiving holiday.

New coronavirus cases hit highs not seen since Feb., when the state's biggest wave was subsiding, according to the latest data released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Over three-quarters of Massachusetts communities reported rising positive test rates over the last two weeks, according to town-by-town data released Friday. Just 12 Massachusetts communities didn't report a single positive test over the last two weeks, down three the last report.

The Department of Public Health reported 5,058 new coronavirus cases, 24 deaths and 63,306 vaccine doses administered across two days Friday.

The seven-day average number of hospitalized patients was 718.4, up from 590.8 the week prior.

The weekly average case count was 1,940 daily cases, up from 1,155.9 at the beginning of the month.

The weekly average positive-test rate rose from 3.04 percent to 3.37 percent.

The lowest positive rate was 0.31 percent on June 25.

Even the death rate is up slightly. There were 12.4 deaths per day on average over the last week, up from 10.7 a week before.

Vaccines

The latest vaccine report shows the number of residents who are fully vaccinated has risen to 4.84 million. Another 836,840 residents have received one dose of the two-dose Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.

Booster doses have been given to 1,056,088 residents.

Over two-thirds of the state's population, 70.8 percent, is fully vaccinated, but some communities lag behind, according to state data. Nine 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 one community with a particularly low population: Gosnold.

The data also does not include 988 of the state's cases because state health officials could not determine which communities the patients lived in.

Other Key Coronavirus Metrics

Of 771 hospitalized patients, there were 156 patients in intensive care Thursday, up 24 from a week prior.

The positive test rate over the last two weeks fell in 54 — or 15.4 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate rose in 275 — or 78.35 percent — of the communities. It held steady in the remaining 22. Over 80 percent of communities reported rising case counts.

Over three-quarters of communities reported positive test rates higher than 2 percent during the past two weeks, including 140 with test rates above 5 percent — up 59 with last week. Fifteen reported positive rates above 10 percent.

Statewide, there were 30.5 average daily cases per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks, up from 23.0 in last week's report.

To date, there have been 847,030 cases and 18,939 deaths statewide since the pandemic began.

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The state reported 171,111 new tests Friday, bringing the total administered to 33.3 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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