BOSTON — COVID-19 data released by Massachusetts showed cases steadily increasing from their recent dip a few weeks ago, counting 1,109 new cases and 85 probable cases Friday.
COVID-19 cases dropped below 600 under two weeks ago on March 13 and March 15, the lowest number of cases the state has seen since last summer. Since that low point, cases have steadily ticked back up.
A week ago, on March 18, the state reported 630 confirmed cases, or 43% fewer cases than the 1,109 reported this week.
The spike in cases is likely being driven by the new omicron “stealth” variant BA.2, said to be more contagious than the original omicron variant but which likely will not cause more severe disease. In New England, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that, as of March 19, the new variant comprises 55.4% of COVID cases.
Although state health officials announced earlier this month that the state would be closing several COVID testing sites next month, the test positivity rate is slowly ticking up. The test positivity seven-day average was 2.08% Friday, up from 2% the day before. The average test positivity rate had remained below 2% throughout the month of March.
The state reported nine COVID-19 deaths Friday, bringing the state’s total number of confirmed COVID-19 deaths to 18,969.
Currently, 222 patients are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Massachusetts, with 32 patients in the state’s intensive care units and 19 patients intubated. Of the 222 patients, 136, or 61%, were fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Only 77 of those 222 patients were hospitalized primarily for COVID-19, the others tested positive for the virus after being admitted for another reason.
As of Thursday, 5,315,502 Bay Staters are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. In the past week alone, 5,983 people became newly fully vaccinated. Massachusetts has the fifth-highest percentage of its population fully vaccinated in the country, at 78.1%.
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