Report: Another 38 in Bay State die from coronavirus

Deaths from the coronavirus in Massachusetts increased by 38 on Thursday and the state reported another 519 cases as hospitalizations and testing capacity continue to trend positive.

The new deaths bring the state’s COVID-19 toll to 7,492, according to the Department of Public Health. One of the 38 fatalities reported Thursday was listed as a probable case.

The new cases reported Thursday include 354 confirmed cases and 165 that are probable. There are now a total of 104,667 cases of the highly contagious virus in Massachusetts.

In Wednesday’s weekly public health report, officials reported 84,621 patients have recovered from the contagious virus and have been released from isolation.

Hospitalizations, testing capacity and the positive test rate are all trending positive, health data shows, while other key data indicators remain in progress. None are trending negative.

The seven-day weighted average for the positive test rate was 3.8% on Wednesday, down 87% since April 15. The three-day average in the number of deaths was 36 as of Monday, down 76% since mid-April.

The three-day average number of patients in hospitals was 1,334 on Wednesday, down 63% from April 15.

There were 1,260 patients in hospitals as of Wednesday, with 296 in intensive care units and 181 patients intubated. The number of hospitals using surge capacity, four, as of Wednesday, was down 81% from mid-April.

Long-term care facilities reported another a total of 22,561 deaths on Wednesday while the number of facilities reporting at least one case ticked up to 265, up from a steady hold of 350 in weeks prior.

At least 4,705 residents and staff at those facilities have been infected.

Middlesex County continued to report the highest total number of cases, with 22,996 as of Thursday. Suffolk County was next with 19,195 overall cases.

In the United States there have been more than 2 million coronavirus infections and more than 113,000 deaths, the most of any country.

Across the globe, the case count rose to 7.7 million with 459,000 deaths and 3.5 million recoveries.