Massachusetts health officials reported 2,807 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday and eight new deaths.
In total, there have been 1,611,466 cases and 19,119 deaths since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Massachusetts' COVID metrics, tracked on the Department of Public Health's interactive coronavirus dashboard, have declined since the omicron surge, but case counts are starting to increase once again.
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The state reported 413 people hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Wednesday's data release, with 127 of them being primary cases. Of the total hospitalizations, 32 are in intensive care and 10 are intubated.
The state's seven-day average positivity rate was at 4.87% Wednesday, compared to 4.58% on Tuesday.
There is some data to suggest numbers could start heading back down soon, and it comes from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority's tracking system. Levels in the Boston area were slightly down at the start of the week, though it wasn't enough to convince top Boston doctors that we were clear from the spring surge just yet.
It's important to note that the levels of virus seen in the wastewater remain nowhere near where they were during the peak of the omicron surge at this stage.
Experts have said that case count reporting may have become a less accurate indicator during the omicron surge, given the difficulties in getting tested and widespread use of rapid tests where results go unreported.
The majority of cases in New England right now are being attributed to the "stealth" omicron variant BA.2. Increases in cases abroad are raising concerns that the U.S. could soon experience another COVID-19 wave. However, medical officials have said they don't expect that the rise of BA.2 will result in as dramatic of a spike in cases as we saw in the omicron surge late last year into early 2022, though they warn that we should expect to see a "bump."
More than 14.4 million vaccine doses have now been administered in Massachusetts.
Health officials on Wednesday reported that a total of 5,356,389 Massachusetts residents have been fully vaccinated.
