MA Town-By-Town Coronavirus Stats: Positive Rate Falls To 1.6%

MASSACHUSETTS — Massachusetts reported declines across all coronavirus metrics again Thursday, with the positive test rate falling to 1.63 percent from 2.03 percent last week.

The weekly average death rate fell to 9.0 deaths per day, the lowest level on record.

The average case rate and hospitalization rate also fell.

The Department of Public Health labeled 26 communities as high risk for the coronavirus, down from 48 in the previous report. The remaining high-risk, or red, communities are: Acushnet, Berkley, Brockton, Chicopee, Dracut, Edgartown, Fall River, Hampden, Haverhill, Lawrence, Littleton, Lowell, Lynn, Methuen, Nantucket, New Bedford, Palmer, Revere, Southbridge, Southwick, Springfield, Taunton, Tisbury, Wareham, Winchendon and Yarmouth.

The state reported 1,260 coronavirus cases, 16 deaths and 85,896 vaccine doses Thursday.

The latest vaccine report shows the number of residents who are fully vaccinated has risen to 2.48 million. Another million have received one dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.

Of the 7.1 million doses the state has received, 83.9 percent have been administered.

The seven-day average number of hospitalized patients was 625, down from 693 a week prior. There were 155 patients in intensive care.

The positive test rate over the last two weeks fell in 210 — or 59.8 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate rose in 78 — or 22.2 percent — of communities and held steady in the remaining 63. Two-week confirmed case counts rose in 61 communities.

There were 20 average daily cases per 100,000 residents of the state over that period, down from 24.7 last week.

To date, there have been 644,688 cases and 17,243 deaths statewide since the pandemic began. Officials estimated there were 26,410 active cases as of Thursday.

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Health officials say positive coronavirus test results need to stay below 5 percent for two weeks or longer and, preferably, be closer to 2 percent, for states to safely ease restrictions. The number of communities reporting rates above 5 percent fell from 46 to 35.

The state reported 94,304 new tests Thursday, bringing the total to 21.3 million.

The data includes coronavirus cases for all Massachusetts communities, except for those with populations under 50,000 and 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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How to use this map: Zoom in on the map below and click on a pin to see that community's coronavirus case data. You can also view the town-by-town coronavirus data in the spreadsheet we used to create this map.

The map does not include 1,145 of the state's cases because state health officials could not determine which communities the patients lived in.

Pin colors correspond to the state's risk designations. Red pins are high-risk, or red, communities. Yellow pins are medium risk, green pins low risk and grey pins at most 15 total cases for communities over 50,000 people and 10 for smaller communities.