Massachusetts surpassed 400,000 confirmed coronavirus cases on Friday as it recorded another single-day record with 7,635 confirmed cases.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health also reported 74 new confirmed coronavirus deaths.
There have now been a total of 12,708 deaths and 400,823 cases, according to DPH.
The state had last broken the single-day coronavirus record on Thursday; it stood for one day.
Another 277 deaths are considered probably linked to COVID-19.
The percentage of coronavirus tests coming back positive, on average, has decreased to 7.49%, the department said.
The number of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 has decreased to 2,311. Of that number, 440 were listed as being in intensive care units and 280 are intubated, according to DPH.
As coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue their upward swing, Massachusetts is preparing to launch a pool testing program in schools that aims to help expand monitoring for COVID-19 and encourage schools to remain open with students attending in person.
More on the Coronavirus in Mass.
Pool testing is designed to test larger batches of people at a lower cost. Under the pool testing program outlined by Gov. Charlie Baker at a news conference Friday, teachers, staffers and students would be tested in batches of 10 using swabs in the front part of the nose.
Ten swabs at a time would be placed in a single tube and shipped off to a lab for testing. If the tube is tested and comes back negative, all 10 individuals are presumed to be negative for COVID-19. If the test for a tube comes back positive, the 10 who contributed swabs to the tube are tested individually to determine who is positive and who is negative.
A handful of school districts are already using pool testing, including Salem, Watertown and Medford.
The new pool testing program will be available to schools next month.
