This week’s report from the Department of Public Health was revamped to include data on isolated outbreaks, requiring its release to be moved back from Wednesdays to Thursdays. This is the first week of the new version.
Massachusetts' latest town-by-town COVID-19 risk assessment map won't be released at its regular time on Thursday afternoon with the weekly community-level data on the coronavirus pandemic, the Department of Public Health said.
The department said in a tweet Thursday afternoon that the data the map is based on will be published instead on Friday. It didn't say why the information was being delayed.
The map was originally published on Wednesday afternoons, then recently moved to Thursdays after more information on coronavirus clusters was added.
The release of the new town-by-town coronavirus risk data will now come after Gov. Charlie Baker's new coronavirus control measures are set to take effect.
Starting at 12:01 a.m. Friday, a stay-at-home advisory will be in effect for Massachusetts residents from 10 p.m. through 5 a.m., on-site restaurant service and entertainment venues will need to close at 9:30 p.m., and indoor gatherings will be capped at 10 people.
Data was released on Thursday, including county- and state-level COVID metrics -- Massachusetts saw 15.3 cases per 100,000 residents from Oct. 18-31, up from 11.8 in last week's report -- and information on COVID clusters that have been identified.
Just over 3,600 clusters were found between Oct. 4 and 31 and they've been tied to 10,239 cases, according to the state data. Another 1,720 clusters identified before Oct. 4 were still ongoing into that period.
Read the full report released Thursday, without the town-by-town data, here.
Last week's updated town-by-town COVID-19 risk assessment map had 121 communities included in the highest risk category for transmitting the virus, an increase of 44 from the previous week.
That means more than one-third of the state's 351 communities are in the map's red zone. Fifty-four new communities joined the list, while 10 moved off of it.
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Massachusetts reported 1,629 new confirmed coronavirus cases Wednesday and an additional 27 deaths. It's a return to last week's levels after a few days under 1,000.
There have now been 9,836 confirmed deaths and 158,937 cases, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Another 226 deaths are considered probably linked to COVID-19.
The percentage of coronavirus tests coming back positive, on average, has ticked up to 1.9%, according to the report.
The number of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 has increased to 502. Of that number, 109 were listed as being in intensive care units and 55 are intubated, according to DPH.
