Mass. Confirms 1,179 New COVID Cases, 16 More Deaths, 2.5M Fully Vaccinated

Health officials in Massachusetts reported another 1,179 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus and 16 more deaths on Friday.

The update puts the total of confirmed cases at 645,867and the death toll at 17,259, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Another 351 deaths are considered probably linked to COVID-19.

The average number of coronavirus cases, average coronavirus test positivity and average number of confirmed deaths reported each day have been falling since the end of March, according to trends posted to the Department of Public Health's interactive coronavirus dashboard.

On Friday, the seven-day average of positive tests was at 1.65%, up slightly from Thursday.

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Massachusetts is struggling through the coronavirus pandemic, but it's not the first outbreak to hit our state over the last few centuries. We'll take you through the history and how what happened to the diseases and viruses that have hurt us before.

The number of patients in Massachusetts hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 cases dropped to 559. Among those patients, 152 were listed as being in intensive care units and 79 were intubated.

Health officials' projection of active COVID-19 cases decreased to 25,474 on Friday from 26,410 on Thursday.

According to Friday's vaccine report, more than 2.5 million Massachusetts residents are now fully vaccinated against the virus.

The state also crossed the 6 million dose threshold -- nearly 6.1 million have been administered, including nearly 6 million first-dose shots of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.