MA Town-By-Town COVID-19: Positive Test Rate Below 4%

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.

All key COVID-19 metrics, including deaths, cases and hospitalizations, declined statewide. The seven-day positive test rate dropped from 5.84 to 3.8 percent over the last week.

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

The Department of Public Health reported Thursday 2,611 new coronavirus cases, 61 deaths and 14,036 vaccine doses administered.

The seven-day average number of hospitalized patients was 1,398.8, down from 2,067.9 the week before.

The weekly average case count was 1,768 daily cases, down more than 50 percent from 3,784.7 a week before. This time a month ago, the state was reporting more than 20,000 average daily cases.

There were 46.1 deaths per day over the last week, down from 58.8 a week ago.

Vaccines

The latest vaccine report showed the number of fully vaccinated residents rose to 5.24 million. Booster doses have been given to 2.75 million residents.

More than three-quarters of the state's population, or 77 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 33 cities and towns.

In 76 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 2,179 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 1,161 hospitalized patients, 213 were in intensive care Wednesday, down 60 from a week before.

According to a state metric introduced recently, just under half 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 329 — or 93.7 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate rose in 18 — or 5.1 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 1,516,170 confirmed cases and 22,069 deaths statewide since the pandemic began.

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The state reported 83,967 new tests Thursday, bringing the total administered to 39.9 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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