Edmund Schweppe (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
edschweppe) wrote2021-01-28 05:46 pm
edschweppe) wrote2021-01-28 05:46 pm
Entry tags:
Local COVID-19 updates
As of 5PM today, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is reporting 43 newly reported confirmed deaths (40 less than yesterday - down 48.2%) for a total of 14,056 deaths, 4,222 newly reported confirmed cases (1,200 more than yesterday - up 39.7%) for a total of 488,861 cases, and 116,963 newly reported molecular tests (20,760 more than yesterday - up 21.6%). The seven day average positivity rate is 4.44%, compared to 4.67% yesterday. Excluding higher education, the seven day average positivity rate is 6.34%, compared to 6.44% yesterday. The number of estimated active cases was 78,171 (2,738 less than yesterday - down 3.4%). The state also reported 1 newly reported probable death (same as yesterday) for a total of 292 and 409 newly reported probable cases (111 more than yesterday - up 37.2%) for a total of 25,273. Combining the confirmed and probable numbers gives 44 new deaths for a total of 14,348 and 4,631 new cases for a total of 514,134. There were 1,878 COVID-19 patients in hospital (52 less than yesterday - down 2.7%), 442 COVID-19 patients in ICUs (24 more than yesterday - up 5.7%) and 255 COVID-19 patients on ventilators (intubated) (15 less than yesterday - down 5.6%).
Of the four overview trends (formerly the Page 2 "key metrics"), the 7-day average of newly confirmed cases is 2,637.0 (40 less than yesterday - down 1.5%), 1,579% above the lowest observed value of 157.0 on 7/4/2020 and 58.0% below the highest observed value of 6,240.0 on 1/8/2021. The 7-day weighted average of positive molecular test rate is 4.44% (0 less than yesterday - down 4.9%), 476% above the lowest observed value of 0.8% on 9/21/2020 and 84% below the highest observed value of 27.7% on 4/15/2020. The 7-day average number of COVID-19 patients in hospital is 1,996.0 (41 less than yesterday - down 2.0%), 1,187% above the lowest observed value of 155.0 on 8/26/2020 and 49% below the highest observed value of 3,874.0 on 4/27/2020. The 7-day average number of COVID-19 deaths is 53.0 (4 less than yesterday - down 7.0%), 381% above the lowest observed value of 11.0 on 9/9/2020 and 70% below the highest observed value of 175.0 on 4/24/2020.
Statewide, hospitals reported 9,245 non-ICU beds, of which 6,665 (72.1%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 1,436 (15.5%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 1,144 (12.4%) remained available. Hospitals also reported 1,484 ICU beds, of which 762 (51.3%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 442 (29.8%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 280 (18.9%) remained available. By comparison, hospitals reported yesterday a total of 9,239 non-ICU beds, of which 6,503 (70.4%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 1,512 (16%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 1,224 (13.2%) remained available. Hospitals also reported yesterday a total of 1,470 ICU beds, of which 789 (53.7%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 418 (28.4%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 263 (17.9%) remained available.
Two weeks ago, the 7 day confirmed case average was 3,787.0, the 7 day confirmed deaths average was 68.0, the 7 day hospitalization average was 2,259.0, and the 7 day weighted average positivity rate was 6.67% (or 7.92% excluding higher education).
Today being Thursday, the state also included city/town specific information in the daily download. My town of Acton is listed as having 662 total cases, with a two-week case count of 61 cases, a daily incidence rate of 18.4 which is lower than last week, and a risk color code of yellow. Acton is also listed as having 28,925 total tests, with a two-week total test count of 2,963 and a two-week positive test count of 67, for a percent-positive rate of 2.26 which is lower than last week. The corresponding statewide figures are 484,639 total cases, with a two-week case count of 57,942 cases, a daily incidence rate of 59.4 which is lower than last week, and a risk color code of red. Massachusetts is also listed as having 13,192,478 total tests, with a two-week total test count of 1,224,945 and a two-week positive test count of 67,544, for a percent-positive rate of 5.51 which is lower than last week.
Of the 351 cites and towns in the Commonwealth, 66 are coded gray (compared to 62 last week), 13 are coded green (compared to 12 last week), and 80 are coded yellow (compared to 55 last week). The remaining 192 towns are coded red (compared to 222 last week): Abington, Acushnet, Adams, Agawam, Ashburnham, Attleboro, Auburn, Avon, Ayer, Barnstable, Barre, Belchertown, Bellingham, Berkley, Berlin, Billerica, Blackstone, Boxford, Boylston, Braintree, Brewster, Bridgewater, Brockton, Burlington, Canton, Carver, Chatham, Chelmsford, Chelsea, Chicopee, Clinton, Cohasset, Dalton, Dartmouth, Dedham, Dennis, Dighton, Douglas, Dover, Dracut, Dudley, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, East Longmeadow, Easton, Edgartown, Everett, Fairhaven, Fall River, Falmouth, Fitchburg, Foxborough, Framingham, Franklin, Freetown, Gardner, Georgetown, Gloucester, Grafton, Granby, Great Barrington, Groveland, Hadley, Halifax, Hamilton, Hampden, Hanover, Hanson, Harwich, Haverhill, Holbrook, Holden, Holyoke, Hopedale, Hudson, Hull, Ipswich, Kingston, Lakeville, Lancaster, Lawrence, Lee, Leicester, Leominster, Littleton, Lowell, Ludlow, Lunenburg, Lynn, Malden, Manchester, Mansfield, Marion, Marlborough, Marshfield, Mashpee, Mattapoisett, Maynard, Medway, Merrimac, Methuen, Middleborough, Middleton, Milford, Millbury, Millis, Monson, Nahant, Nantucket, New Bedford, Newbury, North Attleborough, North Brookfield, Norton, Norwood, Oak Bluffs, Orange, Orleans, Oxford, Palmer, Paxton, Peabody, Pembroke, Pepperell, Plainville, Plymouth, Plympton, Quincy, Randolph, Raynham, Rehoboth, Revere, Rochester, Rockland, Rockport, Rowley, Rutland, Salem, Salisbury, Sandwich, Saugus, Scituate, Seekonk, Sharon, Shirley, Shrewsbury, Somerset, Southampton, Southborough, Southbridge, Southwick, Spencer, Springfield, Sterling, Stoughton, Sturbridge, Sutton, Swansea, Taunton, Templeton, Tewksbury, Tisbury, Topsfield, Townsend, Tyngsborough, Upton, Uxbridge, Wakefield, Walpole, Waltham, Ware, Wareham, Warren, Webster, West Boylston, West Bridgewater, West Brookfield, West Springfield, Westfield, Westford, Westminster, Westport, Weymouth, Whitman, Wilbraham, Wilmington, Winchendon, Winthrop, Woburn, Worcester, Wrentham, and Yarmouth.
2 cities/towns are newly coded red this week (Orleans, and Sharon) and 32 cities/towns are no longer coded red this week (Amesbury, Andover, Ashby, Ashland, Athol, Beverly, Boston, Bourne, Boxborough, Brimfield, Brookfield, Charlton, Danvers, Deerfield, East Brookfield, Hatfield, Holliston, Lynnfield, Medford, Norfolk, North Andover, North Reading, Norwell, Pittsfield, Reading, Stoneham, Stow, Sunderland, Swampscott, Wenham, West Newbury, and Westwood).
Of the 10 towns near my church, none are coded gray, 2 are coded green (Bolton, and Harvard), 4 are coded yellow (Acton, Boxborough, Stow, and Sudbury), and 4 are coded red (Berlin, Hudson, Marlborough, and Maynard).
The daily raw data file used to create this report is available here.
Mixed bag on the day-to-day numbers. Newly reported confirmed deaths are down day-to-day, which is always good; however, newly reported confirmed cases were back up over four thousand, which is not good. Overall COVID hospitalizations are down, but ICU counts are up. Happily, the percent-positive ratio is still dropping.
The other noteworthy thing I see is an improvement in the number of cities and towns in the red "high risk" category; the state is now down to 192 such communities, down thirty from last week's 222. Major cities like Boston and small towns like Stow both dropped down to the yellow band, courtesy of lower percent-percent-positive rates.
Meanwhile, the state is continuing to try and get folks 75 and older signed up for COVID vaccinations, for when the first part of Phase 2 starts on February 1. To date, things have gone ... frustratingly:
I can't really blame the governor that much for either the catastrophic clusterfuck that was the Trump Adminstration's "approach" to the pandemic, nor for the fact that the Biden Adminstration has not magically solved all the problems from said Trump Adminstration in the one week the latter has been in office. And, frankly, if the Feds can't yet tell the state how much vaccine is coming in any given week, there's not a lot the state can do about it. However, one thing the state could have done, and in my not terribly humble opinion should have done, is get the public communications around the rollout in order ahead of time (even if all they could say was "we dunno yet"). There's no good reason not to have call centers open already.
The town of Acton's current Google Data Studio dashboard is showing 43 active and 667 cumulative cases as of January 27. The most recent "newsflash style update" at 1:30PM on January 25, 2021 reported 655 cumulative cases with 49 individuals in isolation, 575 persons recovered and 31 fatalities.
Of the four overview trends (formerly the Page 2 "key metrics"), the 7-day average of newly confirmed cases is 2,637.0 (40 less than yesterday - down 1.5%), 1,579% above the lowest observed value of 157.0 on 7/4/2020 and 58.0% below the highest observed value of 6,240.0 on 1/8/2021. The 7-day weighted average of positive molecular test rate is 4.44% (0 less than yesterday - down 4.9%), 476% above the lowest observed value of 0.8% on 9/21/2020 and 84% below the highest observed value of 27.7% on 4/15/2020. The 7-day average number of COVID-19 patients in hospital is 1,996.0 (41 less than yesterday - down 2.0%), 1,187% above the lowest observed value of 155.0 on 8/26/2020 and 49% below the highest observed value of 3,874.0 on 4/27/2020. The 7-day average number of COVID-19 deaths is 53.0 (4 less than yesterday - down 7.0%), 381% above the lowest observed value of 11.0 on 9/9/2020 and 70% below the highest observed value of 175.0 on 4/24/2020.
Statewide, hospitals reported 9,245 non-ICU beds, of which 6,665 (72.1%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 1,436 (15.5%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 1,144 (12.4%) remained available. Hospitals also reported 1,484 ICU beds, of which 762 (51.3%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 442 (29.8%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 280 (18.9%) remained available. By comparison, hospitals reported yesterday a total of 9,239 non-ICU beds, of which 6,503 (70.4%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 1,512 (16%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 1,224 (13.2%) remained available. Hospitals also reported yesterday a total of 1,470 ICU beds, of which 789 (53.7%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 418 (28.4%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 263 (17.9%) remained available.
Two weeks ago, the 7 day confirmed case average was 3,787.0, the 7 day confirmed deaths average was 68.0, the 7 day hospitalization average was 2,259.0, and the 7 day weighted average positivity rate was 6.67% (or 7.92% excluding higher education).
Today being Thursday, the state also included city/town specific information in the daily download. My town of Acton is listed as having 662 total cases, with a two-week case count of 61 cases, a daily incidence rate of 18.4 which is lower than last week, and a risk color code of yellow. Acton is also listed as having 28,925 total tests, with a two-week total test count of 2,963 and a two-week positive test count of 67, for a percent-positive rate of 2.26 which is lower than last week. The corresponding statewide figures are 484,639 total cases, with a two-week case count of 57,942 cases, a daily incidence rate of 59.4 which is lower than last week, and a risk color code of red. Massachusetts is also listed as having 13,192,478 total tests, with a two-week total test count of 1,224,945 and a two-week positive test count of 67,544, for a percent-positive rate of 5.51 which is lower than last week.
Of the 351 cites and towns in the Commonwealth, 66 are coded gray (compared to 62 last week), 13 are coded green (compared to 12 last week), and 80 are coded yellow (compared to 55 last week). The remaining 192 towns are coded red (compared to 222 last week): Abington, Acushnet, Adams, Agawam, Ashburnham, Attleboro, Auburn, Avon, Ayer, Barnstable, Barre, Belchertown, Bellingham, Berkley, Berlin, Billerica, Blackstone, Boxford, Boylston, Braintree, Brewster, Bridgewater, Brockton, Burlington, Canton, Carver, Chatham, Chelmsford, Chelsea, Chicopee, Clinton, Cohasset, Dalton, Dartmouth, Dedham, Dennis, Dighton, Douglas, Dover, Dracut, Dudley, Duxbury, East Bridgewater, East Longmeadow, Easton, Edgartown, Everett, Fairhaven, Fall River, Falmouth, Fitchburg, Foxborough, Framingham, Franklin, Freetown, Gardner, Georgetown, Gloucester, Grafton, Granby, Great Barrington, Groveland, Hadley, Halifax, Hamilton, Hampden, Hanover, Hanson, Harwich, Haverhill, Holbrook, Holden, Holyoke, Hopedale, Hudson, Hull, Ipswich, Kingston, Lakeville, Lancaster, Lawrence, Lee, Leicester, Leominster, Littleton, Lowell, Ludlow, Lunenburg, Lynn, Malden, Manchester, Mansfield, Marion, Marlborough, Marshfield, Mashpee, Mattapoisett, Maynard, Medway, Merrimac, Methuen, Middleborough, Middleton, Milford, Millbury, Millis, Monson, Nahant, Nantucket, New Bedford, Newbury, North Attleborough, North Brookfield, Norton, Norwood, Oak Bluffs, Orange, Orleans, Oxford, Palmer, Paxton, Peabody, Pembroke, Pepperell, Plainville, Plymouth, Plympton, Quincy, Randolph, Raynham, Rehoboth, Revere, Rochester, Rockland, Rockport, Rowley, Rutland, Salem, Salisbury, Sandwich, Saugus, Scituate, Seekonk, Sharon, Shirley, Shrewsbury, Somerset, Southampton, Southborough, Southbridge, Southwick, Spencer, Springfield, Sterling, Stoughton, Sturbridge, Sutton, Swansea, Taunton, Templeton, Tewksbury, Tisbury, Topsfield, Townsend, Tyngsborough, Upton, Uxbridge, Wakefield, Walpole, Waltham, Ware, Wareham, Warren, Webster, West Boylston, West Bridgewater, West Brookfield, West Springfield, Westfield, Westford, Westminster, Westport, Weymouth, Whitman, Wilbraham, Wilmington, Winchendon, Winthrop, Woburn, Worcester, Wrentham, and Yarmouth.
2 cities/towns are newly coded red this week (Orleans, and Sharon) and 32 cities/towns are no longer coded red this week (Amesbury, Andover, Ashby, Ashland, Athol, Beverly, Boston, Bourne, Boxborough, Brimfield, Brookfield, Charlton, Danvers, Deerfield, East Brookfield, Hatfield, Holliston, Lynnfield, Medford, Norfolk, North Andover, North Reading, Norwell, Pittsfield, Reading, Stoneham, Stow, Sunderland, Swampscott, Wenham, West Newbury, and Westwood).
Of the 10 towns near my church, none are coded gray, 2 are coded green (Bolton, and Harvard), 4 are coded yellow (Acton, Boxborough, Stow, and Sudbury), and 4 are coded red (Berlin, Hudson, Marlborough, and Maynard).
The daily raw data file used to create this report is available here.
Mixed bag on the day-to-day numbers. Newly reported confirmed deaths are down day-to-day, which is always good; however, newly reported confirmed cases were back up over four thousand, which is not good. Overall COVID hospitalizations are down, but ICU counts are up. Happily, the percent-positive ratio is still dropping.
The other noteworthy thing I see is an improvement in the number of cities and towns in the red "high risk" category; the state is now down to 192 such communities, down thirty from last week's 222. Major cities like Boston and small towns like Stow both dropped down to the yellow band, courtesy of lower percent-percent-positive rates.
Meanwhile, the state is continuing to try and get folks 75 and older signed up for COVID vaccinations, for when the first part of Phase 2 starts on February 1. To date, things have gone ... frustratingly:
Acknowledging that people have been frustrated with the initial rollout of coronavirus vaccines for people 75 and older, Governor Charlie Baker said Thursday that new appointment slots will soon be available at various sites around the state.
He said people should keep checking for new slots opening up, and that the state plans to open a call center next week for booking appointments to accommodate people who are having trouble signing up online.
Baker, speaking during a briefing in Plymouth on small business relief grants, said the state's mass vaccination sites will post a "large number of new appointments" every Thursday.
"However, it's important to note that based on the number of vaccines that we receive, which this week went from 80,000 to 100,000 for next week in new first doses ... the number of appointments that we'll be able to make will depend to some extent on the vaccine we get from the feds, and we anticipate and hope that that number will continue to grow," Baker said.
[ ... ]
He said seven mass vaccination sites should be open around the state within the next 10 days or so.
"Right now there are appointments at Gillette, Fenway Park, the Eastfield Mall in Springfield, and the Doubletree [by Hilton Hotel] in Danvers," Baker said. "And we encourage folks to look for appointments at those sites."
Baker said that on Wednesday, "Springfield and Danvers posted 10,000 appointments and they were booked within hours. Today Springfield and Danvers posted an additional 15,000 appointments and those are being booked. And Gillette Stadium and Fenway Park posted 20,000 new appointments this morning, and according to the folks at the command center, these appointments are also fully booked."
He said other vaccination sites, such as those at CVS stores, will post new appointment slots daily.
"They plan to post at the eight sites they currently have in Massachusetts and they'll be rolling out additional sites over the next 10 days," Baker said. "Those eight sites can do about 1,150 appointments a day."
Regarding the planned call center for booking appointments, Baker said the state has ample experience in that arena.
"We've been staffing call centers since this pandemic began, and we've been staffing them in a pretty big hurry in many cases, on some fairly complicated topics," Baker said. "We're pretty good at it. We're late, but we're pretty good at it. I don't worry about whether the call center will be able to serve people appropriately. It will."
Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, a Democrat viewed as as a potential 2022 gubernatorial candidate, blasted the Baker administration via Twitter Thursday for not launching the vaccine appointment call center sooner.
"The vaccine call center should have happened yesterday," Healey tweeted.
Baker during the briefing said the state should be able to administer more than 300,000 doses per week by mid-February.
"We have a growing amount of capacity" to distribute any shots that are shipped from the federal government, he said. "We expect and anticipate we'll be able to do 305,000 doses, by the 15th of February, a week. That will be some combination of first doses and second doses."
I can't really blame the governor that much for either the catastrophic clusterfuck that was the Trump Adminstration's "approach" to the pandemic, nor for the fact that the Biden Adminstration has not magically solved all the problems from said Trump Adminstration in the one week the latter has been in office. And, frankly, if the Feds can't yet tell the state how much vaccine is coming in any given week, there's not a lot the state can do about it. However, one thing the state could have done, and in my not terribly humble opinion should have done, is get the public communications around the rollout in order ahead of time (even if all they could say was "we dunno yet"). There's no good reason not to have call centers open already.
The town of Acton's current Google Data Studio dashboard is showing 43 active and 667 cumulative cases as of January 27. The most recent "newsflash style update" at 1:30PM on January 25, 2021 reported 655 cumulative cases with 49 individuals in isolation, 575 persons recovered and 31 fatalities.