Local (and not-so-local) COVID-19 updates
Oct. 21st, 2021 10:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
edschweppeAs of 5PM today, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is reporting 20 newly reported confirmed deaths (9 more than yesterday - up 81.8%) for a total of 18,505 deaths, 1,267 newly reported confirmed cases (88 less than yesterday - down 6.5%) for a total of 784,800 cases, and 93,274 newly reported molecular tests (5,230 more than yesterday - up 5.9%).The seven day average positivity rate is 1.82%, compared to 1.82% yesterday. Excluding higher education, the seven day average positivity rate is 3.17%; that rate was not reported yesterday. The state also reported 1 newly reported probable death (1 more than yesterday) for a total of 391 and 114 newly reported probable cases (1 less than yesterday - down 0.9%) for a total of 56,398. Combining the confirmed and probable numbers gives 21 new deaths for a total of 18,896 and 1,381 new cases for a total of 841,198. There were 532 COVID-19 patients in hospital (27 less than yesterday - down 4.8%), 142 COVID-19 patients in ICUs (2 less than yesterday - down 1.4%) and 79 COVID-19 patients on ventilators (intubated) (6 more than yesterday - up 8.2%).
Of the four overview trends (formerly the Page 2 "key metrics"), the 7-day average of newly confirmed cases is 957.0 (38 less than yesterday - down 3.8%), 1,395% above the lowest observed value of 64.0 on 6/25/2021 and 85.0% below the highest observed value of 6,230.0 on 1/8/2021. The 7-day weighted average of positive molecular test rate is 1.82% (0 more than yesterday - up 0.0%), 490% above the lowest observed value of 0.3% on 6/25/2021 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 550.0 (3 less than yesterday - down 0.5%), 547% above the lowest observed value of 85.0 on 7/9/2021 and 86% below the highest observed value of 3,874.0 on 4/27/2020. The 7-day average number of COVID-19 deaths is 10.0 (1 more than yesterday - up 11.1%), 900% above the lowest observed value of 1.0 on 7/11/2021 and 95% below the highest observed value of 175.0 on 4/24/2020.
Statewide, hospitals reported 9,089 non-ICU beds, of which 8,003 (88.1%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 390 (4.3%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 696 (7.7%) remained available. Hospitals also reported 1,285 ICU beds, of which 924 (71.9%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 142 (11.1%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 219 (17.0%) remained available. By comparison, hospitals reported yesterday a total of 8,974 non-ICU beds, of which 7,809 (87.0%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 415 (5%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 750 (8.4%) remained available. Hospitals also reported yesterday a total of 1,276 ICU beds, of which 895 (70.1%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 144 (11.3%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 237 (18.6%) remained available.
Two weeks ago, the 7 day confirmed case average was 975.0, the 7 day confirmed deaths average was 13.0, the 7 day hospitalization average was 594.0, and the 7 day weighted average positivity rate was 1.84% (or 3.25% 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 1,135 total cases, with a two-week case count of 21 cases, a daily incidence rate of 6.3 which is lower than last week, with a corresponding risk color code of green (if the state was still reporting color codes). Acton is also listed as having 65,946 total tests, with a two-week total test count of 2,481 and a two-week positive test count of 23, for a percent-positive rate of 0.93 which is lower than last week. The corresponding statewide figures are 783,533 total cases, with a two-week case count of 18,086 cases, a daily incidence rate of 18.5 which is lower than last week. Massachusetts is also listed as having 30,262,521 total tests, with a two-week total test count of 1,122,683 and a two-week positive test count of 20,556, for a percent-positive rate of 1.83 which is the same than last week.
As of July 1, 2021, the state is no longer reporting risk color codes. However, if it was, of the 351 cites and towns in the Commonwealth, 100 would be coded gray (compared to 104 last week), 40 would be coded green (compared to 47 last week), and 177 would be coded yellow (compared to 162 last week).The remaining 34 towns would be coded red (compared to 38 last week): Acushnet, Adams, Athol, Ayer, Barre, Berkley, Blackstone, Clinton, Douglas, Freetown, Gardner, Groveland, Hampden, Lancaster, Littleton, Lunenburg, Marion, Mattapoisett, Middleborough, Monson, New Bedford, Orange, Pepperell, Rehoboth, Southbridge, Southwick, Sutton, Templeton, Townsend, Upton, West Bridgewater, Westminster, Westport, and Winchendon.
7 cities/towns would be newly coded red this week (Adams, Douglas, Groveland, Lancaster, Marion, Pepperell, and Upton) and 11 cities/towns would no longer be coded red this week (Ashburnham, Carver, Fall River, Hubbardston, Hull, Paxton, Rochester, Seekonk, Swansea, Taunton, and Wareham).
Of the 10 towns nearby (including my own town), one is coded gray (Carlisle), 3 are coded green (Acton, Boxborough, and Stow), 5 are coded yellow (Chelmsford, Concord, Maynard, Sudbury, and Westford), and one is coded red (Littleton).
Of the 10 towns near my church, 2 are coded gray (Bolton, and Harvard), 3 are coded green (Acton, Boxborough, and Stow), 5 are coded yellow (Berlin, Hudson, Marlborough, Maynard, and Sudbury), and none are coded red.
The daily raw data file used to create this report is available here.
Day-over-day changes are ... mixed, let's say. Deaths are up a lot but cases and hospitalizations are both down a bit. The seven-day averages for cases and hospitalizations are both down, but those for deaths and percent-positive are both up. At least all the seven-day averages are (barely) below their values two weeks ago, but that isn't really any sort of obvious progress.
Also a mixed bag: the weekly city and town numbers. The counts of the lowest-risk communities (grey and green, under the old color coding) are both down; the count of the highest-risk communities are also down (four less this week than last), but the count of the "moderate" risk communities is up by fifteen.
Not a mixed bag: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now say Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients are now eligible for booster vaccinations:
The CDC's page on booster shots is currently still dated October 7 and hasn't yet been updated to reflect this guidance; neither has the Massachusetts vaxfinder.mass.gov site. OTOH, the CDC list of underlying medical conditions certainly still includes me. So I know something I'll be doing in the near future ...
The town of Acton's current Google Data Studio dashboard is showing 10 active and 1,177 cumulative cases as of October 20. The most recent "newsflash style update" at 11:45AM on May 28, 2021 reported 978 cumulative cases with 3 individuals in isolation, 943 persons recovered and 32 fatalities.
Of the four overview trends (formerly the Page 2 "key metrics"), the 7-day average of newly confirmed cases is 957.0 (38 less than yesterday - down 3.8%), 1,395% above the lowest observed value of 64.0 on 6/25/2021 and 85.0% below the highest observed value of 6,230.0 on 1/8/2021. The 7-day weighted average of positive molecular test rate is 1.82% (0 more than yesterday - up 0.0%), 490% above the lowest observed value of 0.3% on 6/25/2021 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 550.0 (3 less than yesterday - down 0.5%), 547% above the lowest observed value of 85.0 on 7/9/2021 and 86% below the highest observed value of 3,874.0 on 4/27/2020. The 7-day average number of COVID-19 deaths is 10.0 (1 more than yesterday - up 11.1%), 900% above the lowest observed value of 1.0 on 7/11/2021 and 95% below the highest observed value of 175.0 on 4/24/2020.
Statewide, hospitals reported 9,089 non-ICU beds, of which 8,003 (88.1%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 390 (4.3%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 696 (7.7%) remained available. Hospitals also reported 1,285 ICU beds, of which 924 (71.9%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 142 (11.1%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 219 (17.0%) remained available. By comparison, hospitals reported yesterday a total of 8,974 non-ICU beds, of which 7,809 (87.0%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 415 (5%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 750 (8.4%) remained available. Hospitals also reported yesterday a total of 1,276 ICU beds, of which 895 (70.1%) were occupied by non-COVID patients, 144 (11.3%) were occupied by COVID patients, and 237 (18.6%) remained available.
Two weeks ago, the 7 day confirmed case average was 975.0, the 7 day confirmed deaths average was 13.0, the 7 day hospitalization average was 594.0, and the 7 day weighted average positivity rate was 1.84% (or 3.25% 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 1,135 total cases, with a two-week case count of 21 cases, a daily incidence rate of 6.3 which is lower than last week, with a corresponding risk color code of green (if the state was still reporting color codes). Acton is also listed as having 65,946 total tests, with a two-week total test count of 2,481 and a two-week positive test count of 23, for a percent-positive rate of 0.93 which is lower than last week. The corresponding statewide figures are 783,533 total cases, with a two-week case count of 18,086 cases, a daily incidence rate of 18.5 which is lower than last week. Massachusetts is also listed as having 30,262,521 total tests, with a two-week total test count of 1,122,683 and a two-week positive test count of 20,556, for a percent-positive rate of 1.83 which is the same than last week.
As of July 1, 2021, the state is no longer reporting risk color codes. However, if it was, of the 351 cites and towns in the Commonwealth, 100 would be coded gray (compared to 104 last week), 40 would be coded green (compared to 47 last week), and 177 would be coded yellow (compared to 162 last week).The remaining 34 towns would be coded red (compared to 38 last week): Acushnet, Adams, Athol, Ayer, Barre, Berkley, Blackstone, Clinton, Douglas, Freetown, Gardner, Groveland, Hampden, Lancaster, Littleton, Lunenburg, Marion, Mattapoisett, Middleborough, Monson, New Bedford, Orange, Pepperell, Rehoboth, Southbridge, Southwick, Sutton, Templeton, Townsend, Upton, West Bridgewater, Westminster, Westport, and Winchendon.
7 cities/towns would be newly coded red this week (Adams, Douglas, Groveland, Lancaster, Marion, Pepperell, and Upton) and 11 cities/towns would no longer be coded red this week (Ashburnham, Carver, Fall River, Hubbardston, Hull, Paxton, Rochester, Seekonk, Swansea, Taunton, and Wareham).
Of the 10 towns nearby (including my own town), one is coded gray (Carlisle), 3 are coded green (Acton, Boxborough, and Stow), 5 are coded yellow (Chelmsford, Concord, Maynard, Sudbury, and Westford), and one is coded red (Littleton).
Of the 10 towns near my church, 2 are coded gray (Bolton, and Harvard), 3 are coded green (Acton, Boxborough, and Stow), 5 are coded yellow (Berlin, Hudson, Marlborough, Maynard, and Sudbury), and none are coded red.
The daily raw data file used to create this report is available here.
Day-over-day changes are ... mixed, let's say. Deaths are up a lot but cases and hospitalizations are both down a bit. The seven-day averages for cases and hospitalizations are both down, but those for deaths and percent-positive are both up. At least all the seven-day averages are (barely) below their values two weeks ago, but that isn't really any sort of obvious progress.
Also a mixed bag: the weekly city and town numbers. The counts of the lowest-risk communities (grey and green, under the old color coding) are both down; the count of the highest-risk communities are also down (four less this week than last), but the count of the "moderate" risk communities is up by fifteen.
Not a mixed bag: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now say Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccine recipients are now eligible for booster vaccinations:
WASHINGTON (AP) — Millions more Americans can get a COVID-19 booster and choose a different company's vaccine for that next shot, federal health officials said Thursday.
Certain people who received Pfizer vaccinations months ago already are eligible for a booster and now the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says specific Moderna and Johnson & Johnson recipients qualify, too. And in a bigger change, the agency is allowing the flexibility of "mixing and matching" that extra dose regardless of which type people received first.
The Food and Drug Administration had already authorized such an expansion of the nation's booster campaign on Wednesday, and it was also endorsed Thursday by a CDC advisory panel. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky had the final word on who gets the extra doses.
"These past 20 months have taught us many things, but mostly to have humility," she told the panel. "We are constantly learning about this virus, growing the evidence base and accumulating more data."
There still are restrictions on who qualifies and when for a booster. Starting six months past their last Pfizer or Moderna vaccination, people are urged to get a booster if they're 65 or older, nursing home residents, or at least 50 and at increased risk of severe disease because of health problems. Boosters also were allowed, but not urged, for adults of any age at increased risk of infection because of health problems or their jobs or living conditions. That includes health care workers, teachers and people in jails or homeless shelters.
Moderna's booster will come at half the dose of the original two shots.
As for recipients of the single-shot J&J vaccine, a COVID-19 booster is recommended for everyone at least two months after their vaccination. That's because the J&J vaccine hasn't proved as protective as the two-dose Moderna or Pfizer options.
The CDC panel didn't explicitly recommend anyone get a different brand than they started with but left open the option — saying only that a booster of some sort was recommended. And some of the advisers said they would prefer that J&J recipients receive a competitor's booster, citing preliminary data from an ongoing government study that suggested a bigger boost in virus-fighting antibodies from that combination.
"We're at a different place in the pandemic than we were earlier" when supply constraints meant people had to take whatever shot they were offered, noted CDC adviser Dr. Helen Keipp Talbot of Vanderbilt University.
She called it "priceless" to be able to choose a different kind for the booster if, for example, someone might be at risk for a rare side effect from a specific vaccine.
The CDC's page on booster shots is currently still dated October 7 and hasn't yet been updated to reflect this guidance; neither has the Massachusetts vaxfinder.mass.gov site. OTOH, the CDC list of underlying medical conditions certainly still includes me. So I know something I'll be doing in the near future ...
The town of Acton's current Google Data Studio dashboard is showing 10 active and 1,177 cumulative cases as of October 20. The most recent "newsflash style update" at 11:45AM on May 28, 2021 reported 978 cumulative cases with 3 individuals in isolation, 943 persons recovered and 32 fatalities.