25 virus deaths as positive test rate remains low
Health officials on Friday reported 25 new virus deaths and 1,677 new cases as key coronavirus metrics continue to show improvements following an intense peak in January.
The state’s count of estimated active cases is now 27,382, a drop from 98,750 at the start of January. The current estimated count below 28,000 cases is about the same as the tally on Nov. 13, prior to the holiday surge.
Statewide hospitalizations have been dropping. Hospitalizations on Friday went down by 25 patients, bringing the total to 716 patients.
There are 180 patients in the ICU and 109 are intubated.
Of the state’s total death toll of 16,321 people, 8,652 of the deaths have been reported in long-term care facilities, an increase of five from Thursday.
The state’s seven-day weighted average test positive rate sits at 1.82%. While the lowest it has ever been is a mere 0.8% in September, the current rate is down significantly from a staggering 31% in March of last year when testing was extremely limited.
The World Health Organization threshold for reopening the economy is a test positive rate of 5%.
As of Friday, 83.6% of hospital beds in the state are occupied and 75% of ICU beds are taken.
Also on Friday the state Department of Public Health announced that Missouri, Oregon and Washington state have been added to the list of lower-risk states for Massachusetts’ travel order.
Travelers arriving from those states will no longer need to fill out the Massachusetts Travel Form and follow quarantine rules under the travel order.
The U.S. still continues to confront the huge case count and death count that has occurred throughout the pandemic.
There have been 28.8 million cases in the United States, more than any other country. India, the country with the second most cases in the world, has had 11.1 million. More than 522,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus.