Local COVID-19 updates

As of 4PM this afternoon, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is reporting 57 more deaths from COVID-19 (for a total of 6,473 to date), 422 new cases (for a total of 93,693) and 4,920 more tests reported (for a total of 545,481). The ratio of new cases to new test results is 8.6%.

Unsurprisingly (but depressingly), the headline numbers today are worse than yesterday, with more deaths, fewer tests and a higher percentage of tests coming back positive. The official Dashboard of Public Health Indicators numbers are still trending in the "good" direction, which is nice, but the six "six key public health indicators" on the front page have not been updated since their initial rollout on May 18. The dashboard says that "Status will be updated weekly or as metrics indicate"; presumably none of the metrics have "indicated" that they need to be changed.

The six indicators and their status:

• COVID-19 positive test rate: green (positive trend)


• Number of individuals who died from COVID-19: yellow (in progress)


• Number of patients with COVID-19 in hospitals: yellow (in progress)


• Healthcare system readiness: yellow (in progress)


• Testing capacity: green (positive trend)


• Contact tracing capabilities: yellow (in progress)

I still don't have anything even vaguely resembling confidence that the situation in Massachusetts is under control.

As of 9PM tonight, the town of Acton is reporting 165 cumulative cases of COVID-19 in Acton with 47 individuals in isolation, 97 recovered and 21 fatalities. Good to see the local death count not going up, at least.