Coronavirus In Newton: More Than 540 People Test Positive

NEWTON, MA —The number of people who have tested positive for the coronavirus in Newton rose to 541 as of April 26, and at least 58 people have died. The last time the number of people who had died was released was April 21.

Because one of the labs testing for the virus that causes the illness known as COVID-19, Quest Diagnostics, was late transmitting some of their results nationwide, a large group of positive test results for Newton residents came through mid week, according to Mayor Ruthanne Fuller. These test results were processed earlier but not reported to state or local health departments.

"This delay is likely why we saw smaller increases in total case counts in the days prior to Wednesday," Fuller said in a statement.

The city is now posting a graph to show cases by symptom onset date "whenever possible" and defaults to the date of test administration when that’s not possible.

"This data provides a picture of when people become sick with COVID-19, instead of when our health department is notified of a positive COVID-19 test," she said, noting the graph isn’t updated yet with the larger batch of delayed results.

If you see the numbers or the look of the graph change, that's because as the city gets more information, it will be updating it. For example, a person initially counted as a Newton resident may actually live elsewhere, and will therefore will be removed, or a test date may have been initially used, and later is changed when a symptom onset date becomes available, according to the city.

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