Local COVID-19 updates
Feb. 20th, 2021 05:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
edschweppeAs of 5PM today, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is reporting 53 newly reported confirmed deaths (17 more than yesterday - up 47.2%) for a total of 15,462 deaths, 1,822 newly reported confirmed cases (143 more than yesterday - up 8.5%) for a total of 538,328 cases, and 115,002 newly reported molecular tests (8,346 more than yesterday - up 7.8%). The seven day average positivity rate is 2.02%, compared to 2.10% yesterday. Excluding higher education, the seven day average positivity rate is 3.38%, compared to 3.58% yesterday. The number of estimated active cases was 36,316 (894 less than yesterday - down 2.4%). The state also reported zero newly reported probable deaths (4 less than yesterday) for a total of 317 and 148 newly reported probable cases (9 more than yesterday - up 6.5%) for a total of 29,436. Combining the confirmed and probable numbers gives 53 new deaths for a total of 15,779 and 1,970 new cases for a total of 567,764. There were 970 COVID-19 patients in hospital (20 less than yesterday - down 2.0%), 246 COVID-19 patients in ICUs (12 less than yesterday - down 4.7%) and 152 COVID-19 patients on ventilators (intubated) (11 less than yesterday - down 6.7%).
Of the four overview trends (formerly the Page 2 "key metrics"), the 7-day average of newly confirmed cases is 1,161.0 (20 more than yesterday - up 1.8%), 639% above the lowest observed value of 157.0 on 7/4/2020 and 82.0% below the highest observed value of 6,241.0 on 1/8/2021. The 7-day weighted average of positive molecular test rate is 2.02% (0 less than yesterday - down 3.8%), 162% above the lowest observed value of 0.8% on 9/21/2020 and 93% below the highest observed value of 27.7% on 4/15/2020. The 7-day average number of COVID-19 patients in hospital is 1,069.0 (32 less than yesterday - down 2.9%), 589% above the lowest observed value of 155.0 on 8/26/2020 and 73% below the highest observed value of 3,874.0 on 4/27/2020. The 7-day average number of COVID-19 deaths is 44.0 (same as yesterday), 300% above the lowest observed value of 11.0 on 9/9/2020 and 75% below the highest observed value of 175.0 on 4/24/2020.
Statewide, hospitals reported 9,186 non-ICU beds, of which 7,056 (76.8%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 724 (7.9%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 1,406 (15.3%) remained available. Hospitals also reported 1,438 ICU beds, of which 843 (58.6%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 246 (17.1%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 349 (24.3%) remained available. By comparison, hospitals reported yesterday a total of 9,194 non-ICU beds, of which 7,129 (77.5%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 732 (8%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 1,333 (14.5%) remained available. Hospitals also reported yesterday a total of 1,442 ICU beds, of which 832 (57.7%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 258 (17.9%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 352 (24.4%) remained available.
Two weeks ago, the 7 day confirmed case average was 1,880.0, the 7 day confirmed deaths average was 50.0, the 7 day hospitalization average was 1,609.0, and the 7 day weighted average positivity rate was 3.11% (or 4.86% excluding higher education).
The daily raw data file used to create this report is available here.
Day-to-day deaths and cases both up; hopefully that's just statistical noise rather than the start of a new trend. Hospitalization counts and percent-positive continue their downward march, which is always good to see.
As for vaccinations (and signing up therefore), improvements to the state's website are supposedly coming soon:
I'm in no position to know for certain; however, I'm going to guess that the state never intended to provide a one-stop portal for vaccination signups. As currently set up, the vaxfinder.mass.gov uses a Google Form (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeOcfCPu_afvFILB_nXZz3v9VMaFZZQMgGbKGiU7o3VBr5m7Q/viewform?embedded=true) for its "vaccine eligiblity checker" - not what I'd call enterprise-grade software. And there's no way for the results of that validation to be passed to any of the web applications being used by individual vaccination providers - so they all ask for the same information, each in their own independent way.
Plus, of course, there isn't enough vaccine yet to go around to everyone who wants it.
Sigh.
The town of Acton's current Google Data Studio dashboard is showing 33 active and 744 cumulative cases as of February 18, and has apparently not been updated since. The most recent "newsflash style update" at 1PM on February 19, 2021 reported 744 cumulative cases with 33 individuals in isolation, 680 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 1,161.0 (20 more than yesterday - up 1.8%), 639% above the lowest observed value of 157.0 on 7/4/2020 and 82.0% below the highest observed value of 6,241.0 on 1/8/2021. The 7-day weighted average of positive molecular test rate is 2.02% (0 less than yesterday - down 3.8%), 162% above the lowest observed value of 0.8% on 9/21/2020 and 93% below the highest observed value of 27.7% on 4/15/2020. The 7-day average number of COVID-19 patients in hospital is 1,069.0 (32 less than yesterday - down 2.9%), 589% above the lowest observed value of 155.0 on 8/26/2020 and 73% below the highest observed value of 3,874.0 on 4/27/2020. The 7-day average number of COVID-19 deaths is 44.0 (same as yesterday), 300% above the lowest observed value of 11.0 on 9/9/2020 and 75% below the highest observed value of 175.0 on 4/24/2020.
Statewide, hospitals reported 9,186 non-ICU beds, of which 7,056 (76.8%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 724 (7.9%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 1,406 (15.3%) remained available. Hospitals also reported 1,438 ICU beds, of which 843 (58.6%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 246 (17.1%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 349 (24.3%) remained available. By comparison, hospitals reported yesterday a total of 9,194 non-ICU beds, of which 7,129 (77.5%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 732 (8%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 1,333 (14.5%) remained available. Hospitals also reported yesterday a total of 1,442 ICU beds, of which 832 (57.7%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 258 (17.9%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 352 (24.4%) remained available.
Two weeks ago, the 7 day confirmed case average was 1,880.0, the 7 day confirmed deaths average was 50.0, the 7 day hospitalization average was 1,609.0, and the 7 day weighted average positivity rate was 3.11% (or 4.86% excluding higher education).
The daily raw data file used to create this report is available here.
Day-to-day deaths and cases both up; hopefully that's just statistical noise rather than the start of a new trend. Hospitalization counts and percent-positive continue their downward march, which is always good to see.
As for vaccinations (and signing up therefore), improvements to the state's website are supposedly coming soon:
Massachusetts officials said on Friday they are planning a key upgrade to the state's troubled vaccine website that should resolve a major frustration people are having with the system: losing their time slot while they fill out the lengthy forms to confirm their appointment.
A top health official said the state is looking to add a reservation window and make other changes so people are not constantly losing a time slot and being forced to go through the entire application process from scratch.
The upgrade announcement came as the Baker administration and the software vendor behind the booking system traded blame over the crash of the state's website Thursday morning, when 1 million residents age 65 or over or with two chronic health conditions became eligible to book appointments and flooded the system, causing it to go offline for part of the day.
Tiffany Tate, whose firm makes the PrepMod software the state uses to book vaccine appointments, said in an interview Friday that the Baker administration did not warn her company that the massive expansion of eligibility would go live Thursday morning. As a result, Tate said, her company didn't move quickly to increase the capacity of the PrepMod registration system.
[ ... ]
She also pointed out that PrepMod does not have control over the state's main web portal that residents use to find vaccine locations, called Vaxfinder, which crashed repeatedly under the heavy traffic, displaying a now notorious error message that featured the image of an octopus.
"It wasn't our octopus," said Tate.
The state's website acts as a portal or front door to the vaccination system, allowing residents to search for locations, while the PrepMod software performs the actual booking of appointments.
[ ... ]
In Massachusetts, the website and related booking system appeared to be working normally since the upgrades, although some eligible residents said Friday that they are still unable to find an available appointment, largely because there isn't enough of the vaccine to go around.
The next fixes to the system, as promised by Sudders, should be just as noticeable.
These include a "waiting room" where users can be put on hold until a signup slot is available, as well as a way to save partially filled-out applications, so a user who has logged off can return and complete the process without having to start from scratch.
In the WBZ interview, Sudders said the state will try to replicate the experience of buying concert or sporting tickets, in which consumers have a period of time — five minutes, for example — to hold their vaccination appointment while they complete their applications.
"We're looking to make several improvements to the website, which would make it hopefully less stressful to individuals," she said.
State Senator Eric Lesser, who has criticized the Baker administration's vaccine rollout, complained the state shouldn't be starting work on such features nearly three months after vaccine shots first became available.
"There needs to be an explanation why these plans weren't made before the doses arrived," he said. "We're not asking for the Apollo moon landing. We're asking for a website that works."
Lesser warned that as larger and larger groups of Massachusetts residents become eligible for the vaccines, the Vaxfinder website will have to cope with more traffic surges. In all, the administration aims to vaccinate an estimated 4.1 million people; about 1.3 million have received at least one vaccination.
"I don't think there's confidence that the system has been adequately fixed," Lesser said Friday.
I'm in no position to know for certain; however, I'm going to guess that the state never intended to provide a one-stop portal for vaccination signups. As currently set up, the vaxfinder.mass.gov uses a Google Form (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeOcfCPu_afvFILB_nXZz3v9VMaFZZQMgGbKGiU7o3VBr5m7Q/viewform?embedded=true) for its "vaccine eligiblity checker" - not what I'd call enterprise-grade software. And there's no way for the results of that validation to be passed to any of the web applications being used by individual vaccination providers - so they all ask for the same information, each in their own independent way.
Plus, of course, there isn't enough vaccine yet to go around to everyone who wants it.
Sigh.
The town of Acton's current Google Data Studio dashboard is showing 33 active and 744 cumulative cases as of February 18, and has apparently not been updated since. The most recent "newsflash style update" at 1PM on February 19, 2021 reported 744 cumulative cases with 33 individuals in isolation, 680 persons recovered and 31 fatalities.