1% positive test rate stays steady
Massachusetts health officials on Friday reported 16 new coronavirus deaths and 438 new cases with the state’s lowest-ever positive test rate of 1%.
The 16 new coronavirus deaths bring the state’s COVID-19 death toll to 9,024, the state Department of Public Health announced. The threeday average of coronavirus daily deaths has dropped from 161 at the start of May to 15 now.
The state has logged 127,584 cases of the highly contagious disease, an increase of 438 cases since Thursday. Of the 127,584 total cases, at least 103,920 people have recovered.
The seven-day weighted average of the Bay State’s positive test rate dropped to a record low of 1.0% on Thursday and held strong with the same rate on Friday.
That means the state has stayed well below the World Health Organization recommendation of 5% test positivity to reopen.
Coronavirus hospitalizations went down by 21 patients, bringing the state’s COVID-19 hospitalization total to 312.
There are 60 patients in the ICU, and 26 patients are currently intubated.
The highest peak of Massachusetts’ coronavirus hospitalizations was 3,965 on April 21. The three-day average of the number of coronavirus hospitalizations has gone from 3,707 on May 1 to 334 now.
The state reported 24,597 residents and health care workers at long-term care facilities have now contracted the virus, with 379 facilities reporting at least one case of COVID-19.
Of the state’s 9,024 total coronavirus deaths, 5,781 are connected to long-term care facilities.
There have been more than 5.8 million cases of coronavirus in the United States, more than any other country. More than 181,000 Americans have died.
Worldwide, the case count has ticked up to 24.5 million with 833,000 deaths.