Massachusetts health officials reported 7,865 new COVID-19 cases and 60 new deaths in the last week, with the new data released Thursday.
In total, there have been 1,894,995 cases and 20,401 deaths since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The state reported 293 people primarily hospitalized for COVID-19 and a total of 856 hospitalized patients who have the virus. Of the total hospitalizations, 70 were in intensive care and 27 were intubated.
Massachusetts' COVID cases, tracked on the Department of Public Health's interactive coronavirus dashboard, were down from the week before. Doctors believe we can expect to see some kind of increase coming into fall, but it is unclear how dramatic the trend might be. They still encourage people to get vaccinated to protect against the virus.
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Massachusetts COVID-19 wastewater data from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority shows a slight dip in COVID-19 levels.
Hospitals are gearing up for a difficult winter, anticipating a rise in COVID-19 cases paired with flu season.
The state's seven-day average positivity was listed at 8.60% Thursday, compared to 7.76% last week.
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.
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.
