State health officials confirmed another 2,567 cases of COVID on Tuesday, bringing the number of active cases across the state to 93,300.
Officials also announced another 45 COVID-related deaths, for a total of 13,469 deaths since the pandemic began.
The seven-day average of positive tests is currently 5.94%. There are now 2,213 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state, including 432 intensive care patients, 277 of whom are intubated.
After a post-holiday increase, the state saw the weekly number of new cases of COVID drop after three weeks of sharp increases. The peak of the pandemic in Massachusetts occurred in the week of January 2 with 42,495 new cases. In comparison, the number of new cases last week is 30,186. The fall comes, however, two days after health officials confirmed the first case of the highly contagious COVID variant, which is spreading in the UK, Massachusetts. The person testing positive for the new strain is a Boston woman in her 20s who fell ill after traveling to the UK, DPH officials said on Sunday.
COVID deaths in the state have also stabilized after 11 weeks of increases, although they still remain relatively high and on a weekly basis are about 50% higher than in the week before Thanksgiving.
There have been 454,102 total confirmed coronavirus cases in Massachusetts since the pandemic began.
The latest figures were released when Governor Charlie Baker announced that the state will expand its distribution of the COVID vaccine to include more injections at CVS Health and Walgreens pharmacies across the state.
As part of that expansion, Baker also confirmed that Fenway Park will become the state’s second mass vaccination site after announcing Gillette Stadium last week.
Fifteen CVS and Walgreens stores in Massachusetts will receive 10,000 doses of the vaccine this week, officials said. These stores are located in Greenfield, Fall River, Salem, South Yarmouth, Pittsfield, Lee, Holden, Gardner, Hyannis, Mashpee, Somerset, Fairhaven, Haverhill, Saugus and Danvers.
Nearly 40 vaccination sites will be added next week through these pharmacies and additional partners, including Wegmans, Big Y, Price Chopper, Stop & Shop and Hannaford, officials said.
Total COVID cases per county:
Barnstable County: 7,499
Berkshire County: 4,081
Bristol County: 45,439
Dukes County: 676
Essex County: 71,834
Franklin County: 1,615
Hampden County: 33,547
Hampshire County: 5,081
Middlesex County: 93,861
Nantucket County: 990
Norfolk County: 35,740
Plymouth County: 32,246
Suffolk County: 66,066
Worcester County: 54,092
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