Massachusetts health officials on Thursday reported more than 10,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases over the past week, another virus uptick as the highly infectious BA.5 variant spreads across the region.
The daily average of 1,464 COVID-19 cases is a 24% jump from the daily rate of 1,183 infections during the previous week.
The positive test average has been climbing in recent weeks as the omicron BA.5 subvariant takes over. The seven-day positive test rate is now 8.17%, up from 7.87% a week ago.
The extremely contagious BA.5 variant is now responsible for nearly four out of five new cases in New England, according to this week’s update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The BA.5 variant now accounts for 77.1% of new cases, a jump from 66.7% last week, according to the CDC. The BA.4 variant accounts for 12.3% of new cases, a decrease from 14% last week.
The BA.2.12.1 variant has taken the biggest drop in recent weeks. The previously dominant variant is now responsible for 10.1% of new cases, down from 18.1% last week.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is now reporting its COVID-19 data on a weekly basis, reflecting the evolving COVID-19 response in the state. Previously, the COVID-19 Interactive Data Dashboard had been published five days a week.
The state reported 42 new COVID-19 deaths over the past week, bringing the state’s total to 21,127 recorded deaths since the start of the pandemic. The daily average of deaths is now seven, which is significantly lower than the daily death rate during the initial omicron surge.
The state reported that 589 total patients are hospitalized with COVID-19, which is an increase of 37 patients from last week.
There are now 52 patients in intensive care units, and 20 patients who are currently intubated.
Of the 589 total patients, 32% of the patients were primarily hospitalized for COVID-19 while 68% of the patients were considered incidental COVID-19 cases.
More than 5.4 million people in the state have been fully vaccinated, and more than 3.1 million people have gotten at least one booster dose. Also, the state reported that 623,536 additional booster doses have been administered.
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