Massachusetts reported 382 new coronavirus cases Wednesday, a sharp increase from the 195 new infections reported Tuesday. The death toll rose by 7.
Wednesday’s report is the first day this week that cases have topped 300. However, it is also the fourteenth time cases have been under 500 in the past sixteen days.
The state reports two COVID-19 positivity rates—one with higher education testing and one without. On Wednesday, the seven-day test positivity rate with higher education testing removed sat at 1.3 percent, down from 1.7 percent this time last week. The rate that includes higher education sits at 0.9 percent.
The state reported 264 hospitalizations Wednesday, down from the 332 reported this time last week.
On Wednesday, Massachusetts reported 53,115 new vaccinations, bringing the state’s total to 7,634,963. Over 50 percent of the state’s population is now fully inoculated against COVID-19—meaning they have received both doses of the vaccines manufactured by Moderna or Pfizer-BioNTech, or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Emerson reported no new positive COVID-19 tests on Wednesday out of the 96 tests administered on Monday. Zero community members were reported to be in on-campus isolation and quarantine.
Since summer testing began, Emerson has reported no new positive test results of the 1,256 tests administered.
The spring semester testing cycle concluded with 169 positive COVID-19 tests reported and a positivity rate of 0.21 percent, compared to the 60 cases and 0.12 percent positivity rate reported in the fall. Over the fall and spring semesters, 229 positive tests were reported, adding up to a 0.17 percent positivity rate.
The college’s dashboard is typically updated daily Monday through Friday. When it was first launched in August, the college opted for weekly updates before eventually shifting to twice weekly and then daily updates. Tabs for hospitalizations and the number of “invalid” results received by community members have since been removed from the dashboard after testing began in August. Invalid results are typically a result of user error and require re-testing.
Administrators said in August the decision to remove hospitalizations was part of an effort to increase transparency, as the college was concerned it could not accurately track the metric. Invalid results were deemed “not valuable” data by “COVID Lead” Erik Muurisepp.
The dashboard is not updated on weekends because Emerson’s testing site at Tufts Medical Center is closed on Saturdays and Sundays.
