Local COVID-19 updates

[edschweppe]

As of 5PM today, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is reporting 55 newly reported confirmed deaths (18 more than yesterday - up 48.6%) for a total of 11,190 deaths, 3,720 newly reported confirmed cases (148 more than yesterday - up 4.1%) for a total of 286,866 cases, and 61,236 newly reported molecular tests (5,114 more than yesterday - up 9.1%). The seven day average positivity rate is 5.88%, compared to 5.71% yesterday. Excluding higher education, the seven day average positivity rate is 7.72%, compared to 7.70% yesterday. The number of estimated active cases was 72,587 (296 less than yesterday - down 0.4%). The state also reported zero newly reported probable deaths (2 less than yesterday) for a total of 253 and 209 newly reported probable cases (128 more than yesterday - up 158.0%) for a total of 11,294. Combining the confirmed and probable numbers gives 55 new deaths for a total of 11,443 and 3,929 new cases for a total of 298,160. There were 1,834 COVID-19 patients in hospital (46 more than yesterday - up 2.6%), 371 COVID-19 patients in ICUs (17 more than yesterday - up 4.8%) and 200 COVID-19 patients on ventilators (intubated) (14 more than yesterday - up 7.5%).

Of the Commonwealth's four "key metrics" listed on page 2 of the report, the 7-day average of newly confirmed cases is 3,236 (348 less than yesterday - down 9.7%), 1,961% above the lowest observed value of 157 on July 4 and 33% below the highest observed value of 4,763 on December 7. The 7-day weighted average of positive molecular test rate is 5.9% (0 more than yesterday - up 2.9%), 659% above the lowest observed value of 0.8% on September 21 and 79% below the highest observed value of 27.7% on April 15. The 7-day average number of COVID-19 patients in hospital is 1,684 (40 more than yesterday - up 2.4%), 986% above the lowest observed value of 155 on August 26 and 57% below the highest observed value of 3,874 on April 27. The 7-day average number of COVID-19 deaths is 43 (same as yesterday), 290% above the lowest observed value of 11 on September 9 and 76% below the highest observed value of 175 on April 24.

Two weeks ago, the 7 day confirmed case average was 1,636, the 7 day confirmed deaths average was 27, the 7 day hospitalization average was 1,055, and the 7 day weighted average positivity rate was 4.6% (or 6.31% excluding higher education).
I'll take as good news the fact that the estimated active cases actually went down. Apart from that, there's nothing to celebrate; day-to-day, deaths are way up, cases and positivity are both up slightly, and the various hospitalization counts continuing to tick upward.

Today's big COVID-19 story is, of course, the arrival of the first vaccine doses at local hospitals:

With high hopes, a quick jab, and a thumbs-up, a Tufts Medical Center scientist received an injection of the new COVID-19 vaccine Tuesday, in what is believed to be the first vaccination of a health care staffer at a Boston hospital.

Dr. Gabriela Andujar Vazquez, an associate hospital epidemiologist, was one of 10 caregivers given shots at a media event at Tufts' campus in Chinatown, just hours after the hospital received its first vaccine shipment.

Sixteen other hospitals across Massachusetts were planning to receive their initial share of the Pfizer-BioNTech's vaccine Tuesday as Boston and other communities push back against a surge in coronavirus infections that has escalated cases and deaths in the state.

State officials, meanwhile, said an online dashboard tracking the arrivals and shipments of vaccine doses into the state is scheduled to go live next week. Hospitals will report their vaccine data to the state Department of Public Health, which will record the number of of vaccines administered in coordination with the state COVID-19 command center.

Gov. Charlie Baker, hailing the arrival of the vaccine and promising shipments will be ramped up in the coming weeks, again urged residents to be cautious as the holiday season approaches, citing a rapid rise in coronavirus infections.

"It's not a secret that we're in a second surge here in Massachusetts," Baker told reporters at a press briefing Tuesday. "And while hope is clearly right around the corner, arriving in dry ice in the form of a vaccine, it's not here yet."

Caregivers at the Tufts Medical Center, as well as colleagues at two sister community hospitals, MelroseWakefield Hospital and Lowell General Hospital, were selected to be vaccinated Tuesday as hospitals start providing the first of the two shots required for the vaccine.

The vaccine was delivered to Tufts before 8 a.m. Tuesday and the medical center got 2,925 doses, a Tufts spokesman said.

[ ... ]

The second day of distribution will target more hospitals statewide, including Boston Children's Hospital, Metrowest Medical Center in Framingham, Massachusetts General Hospital, Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, and Charlton Memorial Hospital in Fall River.

In Worcester, the UMass Memorial Health Care system got 1,950 doses Tuesday that will be used to help protect about 2,000 front-line caregivers in the emergency room, the field hospital at the DCU Center, and a COVID ward operated by the health care system, a spokesman said.

The surge in cases has doubled the expected number of patients at the DCU Center, which reopened two weeks ago, a spokesman said. Initially, a total of 25 patients were expected. Now, there are already 50 patients in the facility.

The other big news was Governor Baker basically asking folks not to go visiting over the holidays, but to celebrate just with household members:

Governor Charlie Baker and his health and human services chief on Tuesday beseeched state residents to celebrate the coming holidays in-person with their households only and also detailed the timeline for the continued rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.

"Unfortunately, a few days after Thanksgiving, we started seeing significant increases in new COVID-cases and hospitalizations," Baker said during his regular State House press conference. "It has put a significant strain on our health care community."

Ten days before Thanksgiving, Baker said, the state was averaging about 2,500 new cases per day. Thirteen days after the holiday, he said, that number nearly doubled to nearly 4,800 per day.

"That's a 96 percent increase in a little over a week," Baker said, adding that COVID-19 hospitalizations over the past three weeks have jumped by 93 percent. "Patients in the ICU have increased by 73 percent and … we've also seen deaths increase by 84 percent since Thanksgiving."

Baker is clearly desperate to avoid any more business or school closures. I don't blame him in the least, but good luck with that.

The town of Acton's current Google Data Studio dashboard is showing 63 active and 433 cumulative cases as of December 15. The most recent "newsflash style update" at 4PM on December 8 reported 389 cumulative cases with 60 individuals in isolation, 307 persons recovered and 22 fatalities.