The 2nd holiday season of the coronavirus pandemic is here. Whether you plan to gather with family or not, you should get a booster shot to help protect you against the virus, especially with the Omicron variant surging. And you should be cautious about big gatherings with lots of singing – that’s more likely to spread an infection, says Dr. Bob Lahita of St. Joseph’s Health in Paterson, NJ.
Massachusetts health officials reported another 6,345 new confirmed COVID-19 cases -- the most in one day since January -- and 45 new deaths Friday.
The report from the Department of Public Health pushed the state's number of confirmed COVID-19 to 933,908 and the death toll to 19,406.
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The last time more than 6,345 new coronavirus cases were confirmed in one day in Massachusetts was Jan. 9, as the winter surge was receding, according to state data.
Massachusetts' COVID metrics, tracked on the Department of Public Health's interactive coronavirus dashboard, dashboard, had been far lower than they were in spring, but have been rising lately. The discovery of omicron, a new COVID strain labeled a variant of concern by the World Health Organization over the Thanksgiving weekend, is being monitored in case it accelerates the recent surge statewide and across the U.S.
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Massachusetts' seven-day average of positive tests rose from 5.44% Thursday to 5.77% Friday, the highest it's been since Jan. 18. The metric was once above 30%, but had dropped under 0.5% until the delta variant began surging in the state.
The number of patients in Massachusetts hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 cases rose to 1,499, the highest level since Feb. 4. The figure was once nearly 4,000, but reached under an average of 85 at one point in July.
Of those currently hospitalized, 432 are fully vaccinated, 315 are in intensive care units and 189 are intubated.
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Over 12.2 million vaccine doses have now been administered in Massachusetts.
That includes, from the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, over 5.4 million first shots, nearly 4.7 million second shots and more than 1.7 million booster shots. There have been more than 334,000 doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine administered.
Health officials on Friday reported that a total of 5,031,199 Massachusetts residents have been fully vaccinated.
