136 virus patients in hospital
Massachusetts health officials on Saturday reported a new pandemic low for the total number of coronavirus patients in hospitals across the state, as COVID-19 hospitalizations keep plummeting during the vaccine rollout.
The Bay State currently has 136 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, according to Saturday’s daily virus report. The previous pandemic low was 140 patients on Aug. 23 when cases dipped last summer.
The highest ever total number of COVID-19 patients was 3,965 patients last April 21 during the spring surge. The winter surge peaked at 2,428 patients on Jan. 4 before dropping all the way down to 136 patients now amid the vaccine rollout.
Massachusetts likely will surpass 4 million fully vaccinated people in the next few days, as coronavirus case counts and deaths continue to remain at lowest-ever levels since the start of the pandemic.
The Bay State is now fewer than 50,000 vaccine doses away from 4 million fully vaccinated people. A total of 3,950,583 people have been fully vaccinated as of Saturday’s Department of Public Health report.
After Saturday’s COVID-19 report of two more virus deaths and 113 new cases, the seven-day average of confirmed deaths is four and the seven-day average of confirmed cases is 82. Both are the lowest ever for the pandemic.
More than 8.2 million total vaccine doses have been administered during the state’s vaccine rollout. That breaks down to more than 4.3 million people who have received one dose of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine; nearly 3.7 million people who have received both doses of Pfizer or Moderna; and 263,336 people who have received the singledose Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Those figures represent a daily increase of 20,631 doses. The daily pace of vaccinations has been slowing, as the state inches toward its goal of 4.1 million fully vaccinated people this month.
After the tally of 113 new virus cases, the state’s count of estimated active COVID19 cases has now plunged to 2,792 cases, a significant decline from 36,775 cases in April. The two new virus deaths bring the state’s total recorded death toll to 17,939.