MA Town-By-Town Coronavirus Stats: Positive Test Rate Above 2%

MASSACHUSETTS — Massachusetts labeled 32 communities as high risk for the coronavirus Thursday in the latest town-by-town report from the Department of Public Health, up from 20 in the previous report.

The seven-day average positive test rate for the state rose to 2.22 percent, up from 1.93 percent a week prior.

The state reported 2,274 coronavirus cases, 39 deaths and 72,088 vaccine doses Thursday.

The latest vaccine report shows the number of residents who are fully vaccinated has risen to 1.165 million. Another 899,000 have received one dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine.

Of the 3.7 million doses the state has received, 84.2 percent have been administered.

The seven-day average number of hospitalized patients was 602, down from 632 a week prior. There were 137 patients in intensive care.

The positive test rate over the last two weeks fell in 86 — or 24.5 percent — of the 351 communities in the state. The rate rose in 204 — or 58.1 percent — of communities and held steady in the remaining 61. Two-week confirmed case counts rose in 125 communities.

There were 21.5 average daily cases per 100,000 residents of the state over that period, up from 19.5 last week.

To date, there have been 586,298 cases and 16,671 deaths statewide since the pandemic began. Officials estimated there were 28,078 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 rose from 10 to 24.

The state reported 111,753 new tests Thursday, bringing the total to 18.3 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 1,262 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.