Coronavirus in Massachusetts: 3,199 new cases, 7 deaths

The number of new coronavirus cases remained above 3,000 for the second straight day even as our poop showed a somewhat more positive scoop.

Massachusetts health officials recorded 3,199 COVID-19 cases on Friday, nudging back down slightly from Thursday’s 3,341 mark, which was the highest since February.

The case numbers have continued to drift upward, driven apparently by the BA.2 variant. The positive test rate is also creeping up, now at 5.37%, continuing a day-to-day climb. Authorities throughout the pandemic have said marks over 5% mean that testing isn’t providing as full of a picture as possible — though this mark is still several times lower than it was in January during the omicron-variant-driven surge.

Hospitalizations also continue to rise, now with 459 patients across the state — though just 143 of them as actually in the hospital because of COVID complications, as opposed to the rest who are there for an unrelated reason but have tested positive.

There is good news in our poop, though. The Massachusetts Wastewater Treatment Authority’s coronavirus tracker, which has been a consistent early indicator of rising or falling cases, shows that the prevalence of COVID-19 has leveled off and appears to be starting to trend back down. If the marks from about a week or two ago are indeed the apex of this bump, it’s far lower than the omicron-variant-driven surge from this winter.

The death rate has not climbed during this latest surge. Seven more people died from the disease on Friday, though the seven-day average rate has remained flat for now nearly two months, sitting below five.

In total statewide, the disease is confirmed to have sickened 1.6 million and killed 19,136 since the start of the pandemic, according to health officials.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/efOEa50