Some key coronavirus trends improve slightly
Health officials on Friday reported 1,703 new coronavirus cases and 10 new deaths in the Bay State as some key trends such as test positivity and daily average infections improve slightly.
The 1,703 new virus cases now brings the daily average of infections to 1,115. That is up from the daily average of 745 cases at the start of August one month ago, but down from around 1,400 at the end of August. Infections have been rising amid the delta variant surge.
The daily average percent positivity has been ticking down. The percent positivity is now 2.43%, compared to 2.98% a few weeks ago.
State health officials also reported 10 new COVID-19 deaths, bringing the state’s total recorded death toll to 18,282.
The daily average of deaths is now 7.6, up from the record-low death count of 1.1 in mid July and an increase from around 6.0 in early August.
COVID-19 hospitalizations increased on Friday.
The increase of 15 patients now brings the hospitalization total to 609 patients.
There are now 162 patients in intensive care units, and 100 patients are currently intubated.
Of the 609 total patients, 149 patients are fully vaccinated — or about 24%. Those who are unvaccinated are at a much higher risk for a severe case.
The state Department of Public Health released its county level data, showing the counts and rates of COVID-19 infections over the past 14 days.
Suffolk county has a 14day average daily incidence rate of about 20 cases per 100,000 people, which is about on par with the state rate of 19.5 cases.
The counties with the highest 14-day average rate is Dukes and Nantucket counties at 56.4 cases per 100,000 residents.
As of Friday, more than 4.51 million Bay State residents have been fully vaccinated against coronavirus, about 64% of the state. More than 4.7 have gotten at least one dose, which accounts for about 67% of the state.