Massachusetts health officials reported another 1,386 confirmed coronavirus cases -- the most in a single day since late April -- and eight new deaths on Wednesday.
The report pushed the state's confirmed COVID-19 caseload to 683,608 since the start of the pandemic and its death toll to 17,751. The last time more than 1,386 new cases were confirmed in one day was April 28.
Massachusetts' COVID metrics, tracked on the Department of Public Health's interactive coronavirus dashboard, are far lower than they were several months ago, though some have been rising in recent weeks. While breakthrough cases are being reported, officials say most new cases, and especially serious infections, are in the unvaccinated.
Massachusetts' seven-day average of positive tests rose to 2.91% on Wednesday. It was once above 30%, but had dropped under 0.5% until the delta variant began surging in the state.
Get Boston local news, weather forecasts, lifestyle and entertainment stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC Boston’s newsletters.
The number of patients in Massachusetts hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 cases rose to 346; the figure was once nearly 4,000, but averaged under 85 in July. Of those currently hospitalized, 86 are listed as being in intensive care units and 36 are intubated.
More COVID News
As of Wednesday, more than 9 million vaccine doses have been administered in Massachusetts. That includes nearly 4.6 million first shots and more than 4.1 million second shots of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. There have been more than 293,000 doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine administered.
Health officials on Tuesday reported that a total of 4,401,683 Bay State residents have been fully vaccinated.
