The total number of coronavirus cases in Massachusetts is up to 256, public health officials said Wednesday, a jump from 218 just a day earlier.
Massachusetts is one of the states in the U.S. with the most coronavirus cases in the country so far. While no one has died from the virus locally, more than 100 people have died nationwide. And on Wednesday, Connecticut reported New England's first coronavirus death.
Severe restrictions to daily life have been ordered in Massachusetts, including canceled school, limits to gathering in groups and eating in restaurants, as the state fights to mitigate the spread of the deadly pandemic.
On Wednesday, Gov. Charlie Baker said early education centers and family child care providers will close starting Monday.
Over 2,000 Massachusetts residents have been quarantined due to coronavirus, according to the latest numbers.
The new figures show that 2,054 residents have been subjected to quarantine, with 1,168 still under quarantine and 886 who are no longer in quarantine. That's nearly double the total of 1,083 from a week ago.
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For days, the majority of Massachusetts' cases accounted for in the Department of Public Health's numbers were related to an employee meeting held by local biotech company Biogen at a downtown Boston hotel. But that is no longer the case -- Wednesday's figures report 97 people tied to the meeting directly or through members of their household.
Thirty-eight cases have been found to be transmitted locally and 26 are travel related, according to the numbers. Another 95 remain under investigation.
Someone now has the coronavirus in at least 11 of the state's 14 counties.
One hundred of the state's cases are in Middlesex County, 45 in Norfolk, 51 in Suffolk, 17 in Berkshire, 14 in Essex, 10 in Worcester, five in Bristol and Plymouth, two in Barnstable, two in Hampden and one in Franklin. Four other cases haven't yet been traced to a specific location.
Twenty-seven cases so far have been confirmed as needing hospitalization, while 78 remain under investigation and 151 people haven't needed to go to the hospital at all.
