MA Town-By-Town COVID-19: Hospitalizations Lowest Since November

MASSACHUSETTS — The omicron surge continued to decline rapidly in the vast majority of Massachusetts communities, according to the latest town-by-town Department of Public Health data released Thursday.

As of Wednesday, 776 people were hospitalized with the virus in Massachusetts, the lowest number since Nov. 25.

All key COVID-19 metrics, including deaths, cases and hospitalizations, declined statewide. The seven-day positive test rate dropped from 3.8 to 2.76 percent over the last week.

Nearly 95 percent of communities reported falling case counts for a third week in a row, and more than 90 percent saw falling positive rates.

The Department of Public Health reported Thursday 2,326 new coronavirus cases, 37 deaths and 12,056 vaccine doses administered.

The seven-day average number of hospitalized patients was 946.6, down from 1,398.8 the week before.

The weekly average case count was 1,202.4 daily cases, down more than 1,000 from 2,212.9 a week before. This time a month ago, the state was reporting more than 15,000 average daily cases.

There were 36.6 deaths per day over the last week, down from 50.6 a week ago.

Vaccines

The latest vaccine report showed the number of fully vaccinated residents rose to 5.26 million. Booster doses have been given to 2.79 million residents.

More than three-quarters of the state's population, or 77.3 percent, was fully vaccinated, but some communities lagged, according to state data. Seven communities continued to report that fewer than half their residents were even partially vaccinated. Compare that with the more than 90 percent of residents fully vaccinated in 34 cities and towns, up one from last week.

In 78 communities, more than half of residents have received a booster shot.

Community-Level Data

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

Colors reflected 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 one gray community. Some communities were 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 was available for one community with a particularly low population, Gosnold.

The data also did not include 2,136 of the state's cases because state health officials could not determine which communities the patients lived in. Vaccination rates in some communities, such as Brookline, Buckland and Lincoln, may be skewed by reporting issues such as federal facilities or misalignment between ZIP code and municipal boundaries.

Other Key Coronavirus Metrics

Of 776 hospitalized patients, 152 were in intensive care Wednesday, down 61 from a week before.

According to a state metric introduced recently, forty-three of the state's coronavirus hospitalizations over the last week were "primarily" hospitalized for the virus, versus "incidental" cases, who tested positive while hospitalized for another reason. Just over half of the state's hospitalized patients on Wednesday were vaccinated.

The positive test rate over the last two weeks fell in 322 — or 91.7 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate rose in 25 — or 7.1 percent — of the communities. It held steady in the rest. More than 94 percent of communities reported falling case counts.

To date, there have been 1,527,970 confirmed cases and 22,361 deaths statewide since the pandemic began.

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The state reported 93,738 new tests Thursday, bringing the total administered to 40.3 million.

The data included coronavirus cases for all Massachusetts communities, except for those with populations under 50,000 and where there were 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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