On the eve of the COVID-19 state of emergency’s expiration, most of the primary metrics used to track the virus are at their lowest levels on record and the Baker administration’s goal of vaccinating at least 4.1 million is within sight.
Over the weekend, the Department of Public Health confirmed 146 new cases of the coronavirus — 113 on Saturday and 33 on Sunday, a record low since significant testing began last spring. DPH also reported two recent COVID-19 deaths Saturday and, for just the third time in the last year, reported zero deaths Sunday.
Since Feb. 1, 2020, there have been 662,811 confirmed COVID-19 infections in Massachusetts and another 46,064 probable cases. Since the first death was reported in mid-March 2020, state officials have confirmed 17,576 deaths caused by the virus and count another 363 deaths as probably caused by the virus.
With the state of emergency that’s been in place since March 10, 2020 set to expire at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, the state’s average number of daily new cases is at its record low of 83.57, the seven-day average positivity rate is at its recorded low of 0.42 percent, the average number of daily COVID-19 deaths is at its lowest point of 3.7 and the seven-day average number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients stands at 161.9, just above the 155.3 patient average recorded late last August.
Over the two weekend days, DPH reported that 28,133 more people had become fully vaccinated against COVID-19, bringing the state’s total to 3,962,956 people through Saturday. The governor and his administration had aimed to vaccinate at least 4.1 million residents by the start of June, but have since said that milestone will likely come mid-month. As of DPH’s latest update, the state remained 137,044 people shy of that goal.
