Massachusetts reported 14 new confirmed deaths Sunday and an additional 744 coronavirus cases, pushing the state's total number of confirmed cases past 140,000 since the pandemic started.
There have now been 9,517 confirmed deaths and 140,647 cases, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The percentage of coronavirus tests coming back positive, on average, has decreased slightly to 1.2%, according to the report.
The total number of coronavirus deaths in the daily COVID-19 report, however, is listed as 9,737, which would indicate there are 220 more deaths that are considered probable at this time.
The number of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 has decreased to 483 and the number of people listed in intensive care units in Sunday's report also decreased to 83. Of those, 32 are intubated, according to the DPH.
Gov. Charlie Baker said last week that he expects to see an increase in cases, but he thinks the state is in "strong position" heading into the winter.
Massachusetts has built a "massive infrastructure to respond to this pandemic," he said, leaving the state "in a strong position to be prepared for what comes next."
Baker said the state will be able to rapidly expand hospital capacity if necessary, and that there are sufficient personal protective equipment supplies to meet the needs of health care and human service providers.
The number of Massachusetts communities currently in the highest-risk category on the state's COVID-19 risk map increased by 58% last week, according to data released Wednesday by the state DPH.
The number of Massachusetts cities and towns that are considered at high risk for transmission of the coronavirus has grown to 63 from 40 in just one week, the DPH reported.
Coronavirus in Massachusetts
As a third surge of the coronavirus threatens much of the nation, public health experts across the country say there still aren’t enough tests available to keep the virus under control.
Right now, some doctors and hospitals are offering rapid tests to patients, which can give results in minutes. And over the next few weeks, major pharmacy retailers like CVS and Walgreens say they’ll start offering a type of rapid test called an antigen test, which some hope will give Americans more access to testing.
