Coronavirus

6,150 New Breakthrough COVID Cases in Mass.

In total, there have been 1,762,216 cases and 19,684 deaths since the start of the coronavirus pandemic

Massachusetts Coronavirus
NBC10 Boston

Massachusetts health officials have reported another 6,150 new breakthrough COVID cases over the last week, and 42 new deaths in people with breakthrough cases.

The breakthrough case numbers -- infections in people who have been vaccinated – include 139 more vaccinated people hospitalized over the period, Massachusetts Department of Public Health officials said Tuesday.

The case count reflects a 9% decrease from the last report -- in the previous period, there were 6,778 new breakthrough cases reported.

The new report brings the total number of breakthrough cases to 610,524 and the death toll among people with breakthrough infections to 3,165.

Case counts have been trending down in Massachusetts in recent weeks after a spring bump brought on by the omicron variant.

Breakthrough case figures remain a small percentage of the total number of all people who have been vaccinated. Cases in vaccinated individuals account for 11.3% of all cases, hospitalizations .18% and deaths are just 0.06% of the total counts since the start of the pandemic.

Two new highly-contagious omicron subvariants, BA.4 and BA.5, now account for close to half of all COVID-19 cases in New England, according to an update from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Tuesday.

Doctors have warned in recent weeks that BA.4 and BA.5 could result in another outbreak here in the near future.

The state reported 501 people hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Tuesday's data release, with 144 being primary cases. Of the total hospitalizations, 43 are in intensive care and 19 are intubated.

Massachusetts' COVID metrics, tracked on the Department of Public Health's interactive coronavirus dashboard, saw an increase in the spring but the latest numbers seem to reflect a decline.

The state's seven-day average positivity was at 5.63% Tuesday, compared to 5.37% on Monday.

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.

COVID levels in wastewater, as reported by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority's tracking system is also on a decline. The levels of virus seen in the wastewater also remain nowhere near where they were during the peak of the omicron surge.

Experts have also 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.

Health officials on Tuesday reported that a total of 5,405,918 Massachusetts residents have been fully vaccinated. More than 15 million vaccine doses have been administered in the state.

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