coronavirus

Mass. Confirms 598 New COVID Cases, 6 More Deaths

Massachusetts' COVID metrics are far lower than they were several months ago, but some have been rising in recent weeks

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Massachusetts health officials reported another 598 confirmed coronavirus cases and six new deaths on Wednesday.

The report pushed the state's confirmed COVID-19 caseload to 670,902 since the start of the pandemic and its death toll to 17,703.

The state's COVID metrics, tracked on the Department of Public Health's interactive coronavirus dashboard, are far lower than they were several months ago, though some have been rising in recent weeks. While breakthrough cases are being reported, officials say most new cases, and especially serious infections, are in the unvaccinated.

Massachusetts' seven-day average of positive tests rose to 1.87% on Wednesday. It 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 163; the figure was once nearly 4,000. Of those currently hospitalized, 36 are listed as being in intensive care units and 14 are intubated.

Nearly 8.9 million vaccine doses have been administered in Massachusetts as of Wednesday. That includes nearly 4.6 million first shots and more than 4 million second shots of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. There have been more than 287,000 doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine administered.

Health officials on Wednesday reported that a total of 4,339,778 Bay State residents have been fully vaccinated.

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