Massachusetts public health officials reported 1,018 new confirmed coronavirus cases Tuesday, bringing the total above 570,000, along with 16 more deaths.
The update puts the totals at 570,638 confirmed cases and 16,355 deaths, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Another 333 deaths are considered probably linked to COVID-19.
Generally, Massachusetts' coronavirus metrics have been trending downward in the past several weeks, according to the Department of Public Health's interactive coronavirus dashboard, with the average number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths peaking in the second week of January. The testing rate peaked Jan. 1. The figures reported daily are important for tracking trends with the virus' spread, though a single-day change may not reflect a larger trend, and may reflect incomplete data.
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The percentage of coronavirus tests coming back positive, on average, ticked up to 1.86% from 1.73%.
The number of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 dipped to 619. Of that number, 164 were listed as being in intensive care units and 99 were intubated, according to health officials.
The number of estimated active cases decreased to 25,492 from 26,502 on Monday.
Also on Tuesday, state health officials announced that the first case of an infectious COVID-19 variant that originated in Brazil has been detected in Massachusetts.
