COVID Surge Shows First Sign Of Slowing In Massachusetts

MASSACHUSETTS — The number of people who tested positive for coronavirus in Massachusetts Sunday was the lowest since Christmas Day.

The state confirmed just 1,506 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, down from 7,235 Saturday, 8,351 Friday and 21,795 on Thursday, according to the daily, Department of Public Health report released Monday afternoon. The weekend case counts were the lowest since Dec. 25, when there were just 1,035 new cases.

The seven-day average positivity rate for coronavirus tests in Massachusetts also fell, to 22.39 percent Monday from 22.72 in Friday's report.

While the lower case counts are a small sign for optimism, the report shows the omicron-fueled surge that started in November is far from over in Massachusetts. On Sunday, just 7.6 percent of the state's 8,734 hospital beds were available. Of the 2,923 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 Sunday, 432 were in intensive care and 273 were on ventilators.

There were also 53 additional confirmed COVID-19 deaths in Massachusetts over the weekend, bringing the total to 20,159 since the first death was reported on March 20, 2020.

Monday's DPH report was the first where the state's hospitals began differentiating between patients admitted primarily for COVID-19 and "incidental admissions," where patients who were being treated for something else tested positive for the coronavirus.

In an interview with Commonwealth, Dr. Jarone Lee, an emergency physician at Massachusetts General Hospital, said 30 to 40 percent of the COVID-19 hospitalizations at MGH were "incidental." The surge, however, is coming when hospitals are struggling with staffing and capacity issues.

"We are now clearly seeing an uptick in hospitalizations for people sick with COVID, but there has only been a minor increase in COVID patients in our ICUs," Lee said. "Even though COVID infection is more widespread than ever, COVID-infected people are requiring less hospitalization and ICU care because many are fully vaccinated. They rarely need oxygen support or hospitalization for their breakthrough, symptomatic cases."