Massachusetts health officials reported 1,699 new COVID-19 cases and 18 new deaths on Thursday.
In total, there have been 1,774,241 cases and 19,768 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 526 people hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Thursday's data release, with 149 being primary cases. Of the total hospitalizations, 45 are in intensive care and 13 are intubated.
Massachusetts' COVID metrics, tracked on the Department of Public Health's interactive coronavirus dashboard, have trended back down after a spring bump, but experts warn that this summer will be more challenging than last year, with a much higher level of COVID-19 in Massachusetts.
Get updates on what's happening in Boston to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter.
More on the COVID-19 pandemic
Most of Massachusetts' 14 is now considered low risk for COVID-19, according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The most recent peak was attributed to subvariants of omicron — first, it was the "stealth" omicron variant BA.2, and more recently the BA.2. 12.1 subvariant. Newer variants have since been identified in New England.
The state's seven-day average positivity was at 7.29% Thursday, compared to 7.09% on Wednesday.
This spring bump was well below the types of case counts and hospitalizations seen at height of the omicron surge in January, when average daily case counts reached over 28,000 and hospitalizations peaked at around 3,300.
COVID levels in wastewater, as reported by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority's tracking system seem to be relatively steady after coming down from that spring bump, where the seven-day average came in around 1,300 RNA copies/mL. The levels of virus seen in the wastewater also remain nowhere near where they were during the peak of the omicron surge.
Experts have said that case count reporting became a less accurate indicator during the omicron surge, given the difficulties in getting tested. Now, widespread use of rapid tests means that some results go unreported.
More than 15 million vaccine doses have now been administered in Massachusetts.
Health officials on Thursday reported that a total of 5,409,817 Massachusetts residents have been fully vaccinated.
