Another 338 people have tested positive for the new coronavirus in Massachusetts, health officials said Wednesday, reporting that two more people with the have died.
There have now been 8,438 deaths and 111,371 cases reported in the state, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The percentage of coronavirus tests coming back positive, on average, is holding at 2.2%, having risen from a low of 1.7% last month.
There are an additional 102 probable cases listed in the department's daily COVID-19 report for Tuesday, adding to a total of 8,272 probable cases that have not yet been confirmed. The report listed no new deaths among the probable cases -- there have been 221 in the state.
Massachusetts is in a far better place than it was in the spring, when it had the third-most deaths and cases in the nation, and it's been able to reopen as much as possible before a vaccine or effective treatment is developed. But the higher recent rates of coronavirus tests returning positive have sparked some calls for the state to roll back its reopening plan a step.
Other states have had to take measures like that after experiencing major surges this summer.
"Reopening and staying open is obviously a big part of the goal, but obviously, we can't do that if we don't have everybody's help to continue to move forward," Gov. Charlie Baker said Tuesday.
How Coronavirus Has Grown in Each State — in 1 Chart
This graph shows how the number of coronavirus cases have grown in Massachusetts, in the context of the other U.S. states, dating to the early days of the pandemic. It shows how many cases have been diagnosed each day in each state since their 500th cases. Select a state from the dropdown to highlight its track.
Source: The COVID Tracking Project
Credit: Amy O’Kruk/NBC
