60 more deaths, hospitalizations jump
Boston Herald
Massachusetts health officials on Monday reported 60 new coronavirus deaths and 4,358. new cases, as the state opened another field hospital amid a case and hospitalization surge in the wake of the holiday season.
Monday’s count of 4,358 cases comes after Sunday’s 3,110 cases and an average of 4,271 cases over the previous two days.
The state Department of Public Health on Thursday — the last day of 2020 — reported a single-day record high of 6,887 new cases.
With both cases and hospitalizations spiking, the state on Monday opened another field hospital. The Lowell field hospital opening this week at UMass Lowell comes after the Worcester field hospital started accepting patients last month at the DCU Center.
Monday’s 60 new virus deaths and one new probable virus death bring the state’s total
COVID-19 death toll to 12,671.
Of Massachusetts’ 392,568 total recorded cases, at least 261,672 people have recovered. Health officials estimate there are 81,449 active cases across the state.
The seven-day weighted average of the state’s positive test rate has now surged up to 8.50%.
Statewide coronavirus hospitalizations on Monday jumped by 48 patients, bringing the hospitalization total to 2,339.
The 2,339 patients is a significant increase from 436 patients at the start of November. The highest peak of Massachusetts’ coronavirus hospitalizations was 3,965 on April 21.
There are 423 patients in the ICU, and 258 patients are currently intubated.
The U.S. has recorded more than 352,000 coronavirus deaths. The country’s death toll is the highest in the world.
More than 20.7 million coronavirus cases have been recorded in the U.S. — also the most in the world.