Massachusetts health officials reported 7,408 new COVID-19 cases and 58 new deaths in the last week, with the new data released Thursday.
In total, there have been 1,902,403 cases and 20,459 deaths since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The state reported 253 people primarily hospitalized for COVID-19 and a total of 868 hospitalized patients who have the virus. Of the total hospitalizations, 85 were in intensive care and 34 were intubated.
Massachusetts' COVID data, tracked on the Department of Public Health's interactive coronavirus dashboard, was overall down from the week before. Doctors continue to warn we could see an increase moving toward winter, but it is unclear how dramatic the trend might be. They still encourage people to get vaccinated to protect against the virus.
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Massachusetts COVID-19 wastewater data from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority shows a slight dip in COVID-19 levels.
Hospitals are gearing up for a difficult winter, anticipating a rise in COVID-19 cases paired with flu season.
The state's seven-day average positivity was listed at 7.31% Thursday, compared to 8.60% last week.
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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.
Experts have 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.
More than 15 million vaccine doses have now been administered in Massachusetts.
