Massachusetts health officials reported 9,091 new COVID-19 cases and 45 new deaths in the last week, with the new data released Thursday.
In total, there have been 1,869,603 cases and 20,251 deaths since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The state reported 194 people primarily hospitalized for COVID-19 and a total of 590 hospitalized patients who have the virus. Of the total hospitalizations, 50 were in intensive care and 11 were intubated.
Massachusetts' COVID cases, tracked on the Department of Public Health's interactive coronavirus dashboard, are up from the week before. With Thursday marking the official start of fall, doctors warn that they expect to see case counts rise once again. They still encourage people to get vaccinated to protect against the virus.
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Suffolk, Middlesex, Worcester, Franklin, Norfolk, Plymouth, Barnstable and Dukes counties are listed at medium risk of transmission of the virus, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The remainder of the state remains at low risk.
The state's seven-day average positivity was listed at 7.48% Thursday, compared to 7.32% 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.
COVID levels in wastewater, as reported by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority's tracking system show numbers in the Boston area relatively steady.
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.
