Positive tests steady; 21 deaths logged
Massachusetts health officials on Thursday reported 21 new coronavirus deaths and 319 new cases as the 1.5% average positive test rate stayed at the new low from a day earlier.
The 21 new coronavirus deaths bring the state’s COVID-19 death toll to 8,790, the state Department of Public Health announced. The three-day average of coronavirus daily deaths has dropped from 161 at the start of May to 13 now.
The state has logged 122,423 cases of the contagious disease, an increase of 319 confirmed cases and 104 probable cases since Wednesday. Of the 122,423 total cases, at least 100,486 people have recovered.
The seven-day weighted average of the state’s positive test rate ticked down to 1.5% on Wednesday, the lowest ever “observed value,” according to the Dept. of Public Health. That rate stayed at 1.5% on Thursday.
The rate rose from 1.7% in mid-July to 2.2% last week before declining over the past week.
Coronavirus hospitalizations went down by 21 patients, bringing the state’s COVID-19 hospitalization total to 401. Overall, the statewide hospitalization total has declined by 3,161 patients since May 5.
There are 61 patients in the ICU, and 26 patients are currently intubated.
The highest peak of Massachusetts’ coronavirus hospitalizations was 3,965 on
April 21. The three-day average of the number of coronavirus hospitalizations has gone from 3,707 on May 1 to 403 now. An additional 27,879 tests have brought the state’s total to more than 1.8 million tests.
The state reported 24,552 residents and health care workers at long-term care facilities have now contracted the virus, with 377 facilities reporting at least one case of COVID-19.
Of the state’s 8,790 total coronavirus deaths, 5,621 are connected to long-term care facilities.
The U.S. has recorded more than 5.2 million coronavirus cases — the most cases in the world. More than 166,000 Americans have died, and more than 1.7 million have recovered.