MA Town-By-Town Coronavirus Stats: Positive Rate Rises

MASSACHUSETTS — The coronavirus positive test rate rose to 2.32 percent statewide Friday, up half a percent in just two weeks, according to the latest data released by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

The majority of communities reported rising positive test rates over the last two weeks, according to town-by-town data released Friday. Just 15 Massachusetts communities didn't report a single positive test over the last two weeks, down eight from the last report.

The Department of Public Health reported 3,708 new coronavirus cases, 19 deaths and 130,824 vaccine doses administered from Thursday to Friday. Data for the two days was combined and released Friday due to Veterans Day Thursday.

The seven-day average number of hospitalized patients was 517.8, level with the week prior.

There were 9.4 deaths per day on average over the last week, down from 11.9 a week before.

The weekly average case count was 1,232.7 daily cases, down from 1,321.4 a week earlier but up from the recent low of 1,127.9 on Oct. 27.

The weekly average positive-test rate rose from 1.92 percent to 2.32 percent.

The lowest positive rate was 0.31 percent on June 25.

Vaccines

The latest vaccine report shows the number of residents who are fully vaccinated has risen to 4.8 million. Another 678,057 residents have received one dose of the two-dose Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.

Booster doses have been given to 730,169 residents, or about 15 percent of the state's fully-vaccinated population.

Over two-thirds of the state's population, 70.3 percent, is fully vaccinated, but some communities lag behind, according to state data. Eleven communities continue to report that fewer than half their residents are even partially vaccinated, down one from the last report. Compare that with the more than 90 percent of residents fully vaccinated in 12 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 one community with a particularly low population: Gosnold.

The data also does not include 948 of the state's cases because state health officials could not determine which communities the patients lived in.

Other Key Coronavirus Metrics

Of 522 hospitalized patients, there were 131 patients in intensive care Wednesday, down 16 from a week prior.

The positive test rate over the last two weeks fell in 102 — or 29.1 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate rose in 192 — or 54.7 percent — of the communities. It held steady in the remaining 57.

Two-thirds of communities reported positive test rates higher than 2 percent during the past two weeks, including 43 with test rates above 5 percent — up 14 with last week. The highest rate, 19.4 percent, was reported by Buckland.

Statewide, there were 18.2 average daily cases per 100,000 residents over the last two weeks, up from 16.5 in last week's report.

To date, there have been 814,054 cases and 18,758 deaths statewide since the pandemic began.

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The state reported 187,430 new tests Friday, bringing the total administered to 32.1 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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