Deaths rise 47, cases nearly 5G
Hospitalizations on upward trend
Massachusetts public health officials reported another 47 deaths from COVID-19 on Saturday and just under 5,000 new confirmed cases after spending several days above that threshold.
Saturday’s tally of 4,968 new confirmed cases was lower than Friday’s count of 5,475, Thursday’s tally of 5,130 new cases and Wednesday’s count of 5,675 new cases.
Last Thursday was the highest single-day count for the state — 6,477 cases, of which 680 were from a reporting backlog. Before last week, the one-day high for the state from the spring surge was 3,079 cases on April 23.
The seven-day average of new confirmed cases was 3,022, down from a peak of 4,717 earlier this month. There have been 274,897 confirmed cases in the commonwealth thus far, according to the Department of Public Health, and a combined 285,725 confirmed and probable cases.
There are currently an estimated 67,754 active cases in Massachusetts. Public health experts warned this week that the worst of the postThanksgiving surge may still be yet to come.
Another 99,719 tests were reported on Saturday for a total of nearly 9.5 million.
The seven-day weighted average positive test rate was 5.6%. With testing from higher-education institutions removed, it was 7.67%.
There are currently 1,670 patients hospitalized with the virus, including 334 who are in intensive care units and 170 who are intubated. The seven-day average number of hospitalizations ticked up again to 1,563, continuing an upward trend.
The state reported 47 more deaths from confirmed COVID-19 cases on Saturday and three from probable cases, bringing the combined toll to 11,307. The death toll from confirmed cases alone is 11,057. The seven-day average number of deaths was 45 as of Thursday, the last day for which data was available.
Long-term care facilities reported another 19 deaths for a total toll of 6,997. There are now 403 facilities that have reported at least one COVID-19 case, and 28,709 workers and residents who have been sickened.
More than 16 million Americans have now been infected with COVID-19 and roughly 297,000 have died, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. There have been more than 71 million cases across the globe and 1.6 million deaths. But more than 46 million people have recovered, including 6.1 million in the United States.