Eight new COVID deaths reported in state

Public health officials on Friday reported eight new coronavirus deaths and 431 new cases as the number of hospitals using surge capacity is the highest it has been in a month.

The number of hospitals using surge capacity jumped up to five when just two weeks ago, there were no hospitals in surge.

Earlier this week there was just one hospital in surge, data from the state Department of Public Health shows.

The three-day average number of hospitalizations ticked up to 356 from 346 the day before. The lowest ever has been 302.

The eight new coronavirus deaths bring the state’s COVID-19 death toll to 9,269 confirmed and likely cases.

The three-day average of coronavirus daily deaths has dropped from 161 at the height of the pandemic in May to 12 now.

The state has logged 126,582 cases of the highly contagious disease, an increase of 431 cases since Thursday. Of the total cases, at least 107,501 people have recovered.

Another 22,217 people were tested for the highly contagious virus, bringing the total number of individuals tested to just over 2 million. More than 3.2 million tests have been administered statewide overall.

The seven-day weighted average of the state’s positive test rate remained at a low level of 0.8% on Friday — the state’s record low.

The number of patients hospitalized decreased from 377 to 338, with 62 patients in intensive care units and 25 intubated.

Long-term care facilities reported another 5 deaths Friday, for a total of 5,946. There are now 382 facilities that have reported at least one COVID-19 case, and 24,764 workers and residents have been sickened.

The United States has logged 6.6 million cases of coronavirus and nearly 200,000 deaths, according to a Johns Hopkins University map.

Earlier this week, the Department of Health and Human Services released a plan for COVID-19 vaccine distribution that ensures all Americans who want a vaccine can get one for free.

Worldwide, there have been 30 million COVID cases and 948,000 deaths.