Bay Staters getting their booster shots

Massachusetts health officials on Thursday reported 1,486 new coronavirus cases, as Bay State officials reported that nearly 100,000 people have gotten a booster dose.

Infections have been higher amid the more highly contagious delta variant, but daily case tallies have been lower in the past two weeks. The 1,486 new virus cases now bring the daily average of infections to 1,080. The daily average was 1,892 two weeks ago.

The daily average percent positivity has been ticking down in recent weeks. The percent positivity is now 1.94%, compared to 2.98% last month. Testing has ramped up in the past month as college students returned to the region.

The positive test average was 1.45% for Thursday’s report.

State health officials reported 27 new COVID deaths, bringing the state’s total recorded death toll to 18,627.

The daily average of deaths has been climbing. The average is now 10.4, up from the record-low death count of 1.3 in mid-July.

COVID hospitalizations went down by 14 patients, bringing the total to 618 patients. Hospitalizations have gone down on 12 out of the last 16 days.

There are now 167 patients in intensive care units, and 100 patients are currently intubated.

Of the 618 total patients, 193 patients are fully vaccinated — or about 31%. Those who are unvaccinated are at a much higher risk for a severe case.

Overall in the Bay State, more than 4.6 million people are fully vaccinated, and more than 5.1 million people have gotten at least one shot. The state reported that 93,344 people have received a booster dose.

Meanwhile, the Bostonarea coronavirus wastewater tracker has been showing lower levels in recent weeks.

The latest data from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s study to track wastewater for indicators of COVID shows the southern region daily average is now 224 copies of viral RNA per milliliter. That compares to the daily average of 311 copies from two weeks ago.

The northern region daily average is now 264 copies of viral RNA per milliliter. That compares to the daily average of 451 copies from earlier this month.