MA Town-By-Town Coronavirus Stats: Hospitalizations Level Off

MASSACHUSETTS — Coronavirus hospitalizations leveled off in Massachusetts after weeks of steady increases, according to the latest data released by the Department of Public Health Thursday.

The seven-day average number of hospitalized patients was 596, up just six from the week prior.

The state is nearly two-thirds fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Only Vermont and Connecticut have higher vaccination rates.

At the town level, more communities reported falling positive test rates than rising rates. Twenty-five Massachusetts communities didn't report a single positive test over the last two weeks, up one from the last report.

The Department of Public Health reported 2,096 new coronavirus cases, 18 deaths and 10,506 vaccine doses administered Thursday.

There were 5.6 deaths per day on average over the last week, down from 8.9 a week before.

The average weekly case count was 1142.0 daily cases, down from 1484.9 a week earlier. The weekly average positive-test rate rose from 2.43 percent to 2.48 percent.

The lowest positive rate was just 0.31 percent on June 25.

Vaccines

The latest vaccine report shows the number of residents who are fully vaccinated has risen to 4.54 million. Another 494,620 residents have received one dose of the two-dose Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.

Nearly two-thirds of the state's population, 66.6 percent, is fully vaccinated, but some communities lag behind, according to state data. Seventeen communities continue to report that fewer than half their residents are even partially vaccinated — down one from last week. Compare that with the more than 90 percent of residents fully vaccinated in eight cities and towns.

How to use this map: Zoom in on the map below and click on a pin to see that community's coronavirus vaccination rates. You can also view the town-by-town coronavirus vaccination data in the spreadsheet we used to create this map.

Colors reflect the percentage of the population fully vaccinated, from under 50 percent, red, to more than 70 percent, green. The state did not report vaccination numbers for the two gray communities. Some communities are grouped together for the purpose of vaccination data.

Note: For dozens of communities, up to 30 vaccinations may be missing from the data, as the state does not report totals for demographic subgroups with fewer than 30 vaccinated. No vaccination data is available for two communities with particularly low populations: Gosnold and Monroe.

The data also does not include 974 of the state's cases because state health officials could not determine which communities the patients lived in.

Other Key Coronavirus Metrics

Of 622 hospitalized patients, there were 166 patients in intensive care Wednesday, up from 148 a week prior.

The positive test rate over the last two weeks fell in 152 — or 43.3 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate rose in 147 — or 41.9 percent — of the communities. It held steady in the remaining 52.

More than two-thirds of communities reported positive test rates higher than 2 percent during the past two weeks, including 60 with test rates above 5 percent — up four from last week. The highest rate, 14.3 percent, was reported by two communities.

Statewide, there were 21.1 average daily cases per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks, up from 19.5 in last week's report.

To date, there have been 723,633 cases and 17,954 deaths statewide since the pandemic began.

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The state reported 84,745 new tests Thursday, bringing the total administered to 26.8 million.

The data includes coronavirus cases for all Massachusetts communities, except for those with populations under 50,000 and where there are fewer than five cases. The department said the stipulation was designed to protect the privacy of patients in those towns and cities.

The state releases town-by-town testing data every Thursday, including the number of people tested, the testing rate, the positive test rate, cases and infection rates.

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