Bay State has 38 more deaths, lowest positive test rate

The coronavirus case count in Massachusetts increased by 336 on Saturday and the state reported another 38 deaths as the positive test rate hit a new low, health data shows.

The new deaths bring the state’s COVID-19 toll to 7,576, according to the Department of Public Health. None of the 38 fatalities reported Saturday were listed as a probable case.

The new cases reported Saturday include 259 confirmed cases and 77 that are probable. There are now a total of 105,395 cases of the highly contagious virus in Massachusetts.

Hospitalizations, testing capacity and the positive test rate are all trending positive, health data shows, while other key data indicators remain in progress. None are trending negative.

The seven-day weighted average for the positive test rate was 3.1% on Friday, down 89% since April 15, the lowest that it has been so far.

The three-day average in the number of deaths was 34 as of Wednesday, down 78% since mid-April.

The three-day average number of patients in hospitals was 1,157 on Friday, down 68% from April 15.

There were 1,069 patients in hospitals as of Saturday, with 249 in intensive care units and 162 patients intubated. The number of hospitals using surge capacity, four, as of Friday, was down 81% from April 15.

Long-term care facilities reported a total of 4,768 deaths on Saturday while the number of facilities reporting at least one case stayed at 366.

At least 22,706 residents and staff at those facilities have been infected.

Middlesex County continued to report the highest total number of cases, with 23,156 as of Saturday. Suffolk County was next with 19,299 overall cases.

The United States has more coronavirus cases and deaths than any other nation with the case count continuing to climb over 2 million on Saturday.

There have been 115,000 coronavirus deaths in the U.S. and 547,000 recoveries.

Worldwide, there have been 7.7 million cases, 427,000 deaths and 3.6 million recoveries.