Massachusetts health officials announced 1,472 new COVID-19 cases Thursday and seven new deaths.
In total, there have been 1,564,394 cases and 18,996 deaths since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
WATCH ANYTIME FOR FREE
Stream NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are. |
The state reported 221 people hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Thursday's data release, with 80 of them being primary cases. Of the total hospitalizations, 32 are in intensive care and 11 are intubated.
Get updates on what's happening in Boston to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter.
The state's seven-day average positivity rate came in at 2.36% Thursday, compared to 2.25% on Wednesday.
Massachusetts' COVID metrics, tracked on the Department of Public Health's interactive coronavirus dashboard, have declined since the omicron surge at the beginning of the year. The latest wastewater data shows levels in Boston have been increasing, though they are still nowhere near levels seen during the surge.
Local
In-depth news coverage of the Greater Boston Area.
Experts have said that case count reporting may be a less accurate indicator during the omicron surge, given the difficulties in getting tested and widespread use of rapid tests that go unreported.
More than 14 million vaccine doses have now been administered in Massachusetts. That includes more than 5.8 million first doses of either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, 4.9 million second shots, and more than 342,000 Johnson & Johnson one-dose shots. More than 2.9 million booster shots have been administered.
Health officials on Thursday reported that a total of 5,322,796 Massachusetts residents have been fully vaccinated.