Massachusetts coronavirus cases increase by 1,586 as vax rate hits 71%

More than 70% of Massachusetts residents have now received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine as health officials on Thursday reported 1,586 new virus cases and 23 new deaths.

As of Thursday, 4.75 million people in Massachusetts are fully vaccinated against coronavirus, which is about 68% of the population, and 5 million have gotten at least one dose, about 71%. More than 543,000 people have also now gotten a booster shot.

After Thursday’s 1,586 new daily virus cases, the seven-day average of daily cases is now 977. Several weeks ago, the daily average was 1,898 infections at the peak of the delta variant and just one month ago that rate was 1,340.

The positive test average has also been coming down, now standing at 1.84%, a drop from 2.98% several weeks ago.

The state reported 23 new COVID deaths, bringing the state’s total recorded death toll to 19,069. The seven-day average of deaths is now 9.1. The record-low daily death average was 1.3 in mid-July.

There are now 509 COVID patients in the state, a decrease of 15 patients from the day prior. The seven-day average of hospitalizations is 521, which is down from nearly 700 in mid-September.

The state reported that 147 patients are in intensive care units, and 83 patients are currently intubated.

Of the 509 total hospitalizations, 168 patients are fully vaccinated — or about 33%. Those who are unvaccinated are at a much higher risk for a severe case.

Also on Thursday, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education reported 2,218 new coronavirus cases in schools in the past two weeks. Positive case reporting in schools was recently impacted by power outages and some cases from the last week of October were reported in this week’s report.

There have been more than 15,000 coronavirus cases reported in schools since the school year began, and testing is available in 2,200 schools.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2ZVHS36