State’s COVID cases cross 95,000

Massachusetts now has more than 95,000 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, the state reported Friday, as deaths rose by 78.

The new deaths, the majority of which came from long-term care facilities, bring the state’s COVID-19 toll to 6,718.

Another 617 cases were reported Friday, for a total of 95,512.

The state also reported another 9,422 tests, for a total of 571,745.

Gov. Charlie Baker said Friday that the seven-day average for positive test rates has gone down by about 70% since mid-April. It was at 7.7% Thursday.

The number of hospitals operating at surge capacity had gone down by about 60% and the three-day average of patients in hospital care had fallen by about 40%, Baker said. There were 1,991 hospitalizations reported Friday, with 485 patients in intensive care units.

“We need to keep trending in that direction to move forward to the next phase,” Baker said at the State House. “We really can’t take one step forward and then take two steps back.”

The three-day average number of deaths was 56 as of Tuesday, down 63% from April 15, according to the state data.

Deaths in nursing homes ticked up again Friday, with another 57 reported for a total of 4,180. More than 60% of the state’s coronavirus fatalities come from long-term care facilities that have borne the devastating brunt of the virus, 349 of which have now reported at least one COVID-19 case. More than 20,828 residents and staff at those facilities have also been sickened.

Middlesex County continued to have the most cases, with 20,972 as of Friday. Suffolk County followed with 17,786.

There are now more than 5.8 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 across the globe, with more than 360,000 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker.

The United States has now seen more than 1.7 million cases and more than 102,000 deaths, according to the tracker.