MA Town-By-Town COVID-19: Positive Rate Falls Below 2%

MASSACHUSETTS — The coronavirus positive rate fell below 2 percent statewide over the last week for the first time since November as the omicron variant continues to recede, according to the latest Department of Public Health data released Thursday.

All key COVID-19 metrics, including deaths, cases and hospitalizations, declined statewide. The seven-day positive test rate dropped from 2.19 percent to 1.8 percent over the last week.

More than 90 percent of communities reported falling case counts for another week, and nearly as many had falling positive rates.

The Department of Public Health on Thursday reported 1,067 new coronavirus cases, 27 deaths and 7,145 vaccine doses administered.

The seven-day average number of hospitalized patients was 427.8, down from 635 the week before.

The weekly average case count was 633.3 daily cases, down from 1,044 a week before. At the early January peak of the omicron surge, the state reported more than 23,000 average daily cases.

There were 21.8 deaths per day over the last week, down from 33.9 a week ago.

Vaccines

The latest vaccine report showed the number of fully vaccinated residents rose to 5.29 million. Booster doses were given to more than 2.8 million residents.

More than three-quarters of the state's population, or 77.7 percent, was fully vaccinated, but some communities lagged, according to state data. Seven communities continued to report that less than half their residents were even partially vaccinated. Compare that with the more than 90 percent of residents fully vaccinated in 35 cities and towns, up one from last week.

In 116 communities, more than half of residents had 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 1,999 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 383 hospitalized patients, 65 were in intensive care Wednesday, down 32 from a week before.

According to a state metric introduced recently, 61 percent 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. Fifty-six percent of the state's hospitalized patients on Wednesday were vaccinated.

The positive test rate over the last two weeks fell in 290 — or 82.6 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate rose in 36 — or 10.3 percent — of the communities. It held steady in the rest. More than 91 percent of communities reported falling case counts.

To date, there have been 1,542,709 confirmed cases and 22,810 deaths statewide since the pandemic began.

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The state reported 73,057 new tests Thursday, bringing the total administered to 41.1 million.

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