Massachusetts public health officials reported another 2,973 positive COVID-19 tests on Sunday, bringing the estimated number of active cases to 78,688, just as the country surpassed 19 million cases.
The Department of Public Health also announced that 100 Massachusetts residents died of COVID-19, increasing the death toll across the state to 11,852 since the pandemic began. Including the probable cases of COVID-19, that number rises to 12,110.
The state confirmed 338,704 cases this year. The United States recently surpassed 19 million cases, representing almost a quarter of coronavirus cases worldwide, according to data monitored by Johns Hopkins University.
Sunday’s new statistics are based on 41,331 new molecular tests; 10,663,821 tests were administered during the pandemic.
The seven-day average rate of positive tests is now at 6.28 %%, a sharp increase from the 0.8% drop registered in September. Excluding the tests applied in higher education institutions, the state’s positivity rate is 7.32%. Frequent testing on campuses has helped keep COVID-19 rates low at colleges and universities.
Currently, 2,156 people are hospitalized under treatment for COVID-19, including 416 in intensive care. The average age of patients with COVID-19 in Massachusetts is 69 years. Hospitalizations have steadily increased in the past two months; nationally, hospitalizations increased 11% from two weeks ago, according to The New York Times.
At least 188 cities across the state are designated as at high risk of transmitting the virus. A handful of communities were downgraded to moderate risk, while others were promoted to high risk.
The latest statistics came a day after Governor Charlie Baker’s new restrictions on business and meetings took effect. The state on Saturday started reducing capacity limits to 25% for most businesses, and reducing the number of people allowed to meet outside to 25. For internal meetings, including events, the limit is 10 people.
Sectors affected by reduced capacity include restaurants, personal services, theaters and venues, casinos, offices, places of worship, retail, pilot and pilot schools, golf courses, libraries, lodging, arcades and indoor recreation, gyms and health clubs, museums, cultural facilities and guided tours.
From December 17 to 23, 949 new cases of COVID were confirmed in state schools, excluding students who are learning at a distance, according to new data from the Secretariat of Basic Education. These infections were identified between 450,000 students and 75,000 employees.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s leading infectious disease specialist, warned on Sunday that public health officials expect an “increase on top of an increase” as Americans travel and gather around Christmas and New Year. New Year. He has constantly urged Americans to remain vigilant, avoiding large gatherings, wearing masks and maintaining social distance.
Here is the number of cumulative confirmed coronavirus cases in each Massachusetts county:
Barnstable County: 5,066
Berkshire County: 2,677
Bristol County: 32,340
Dukes County: 459
Essex County: 54,879
Franklin County: 1,214
Hampden County: 24,866
Hampshire County: 3,579
Middlesex County: 71,348
Nantucket County: 704
Norfolk County: 25,608
Plymouth County: 22,762
Suffolk County: 52,079
Worcester County: 40,136
Unknown location: 987
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