Between July 20 and July 26, Massachusetts reported an average of 447 COVID-19 cases each day. In the same seven-day period, the death toll rose by 26.

Cases reached an individual day high of 586 on July 23, after a low of 366 on July 20. The numbers reported on July 26—1,243 new cases—include the data from July 23 to 25, due to the fact that the Department of Public Health does not report new numbers over weekends; thus, this data has been excluded from the seven-day high. 

Cases in Massachusetts have skyrocketed in recent weeks after a period earlier this summer where cases regularly fell below 100 each day. The surge has prompted some areas of the state to reimpose mask mandates and other COVID-19 protocols in an effort to stem the virus’s spread. Friday’s total was the highest single day total since May 15.

The state reports two COVID-19 positivity rates—one with higher education testing and one without. On Monday, the seven-day test positivity rate including higher education testing sat at 1.7 percent; this time last week, the rate was at 1.3 percent. Massachusetts is no longer reporting a rate excluding higher education. 

The state reported an eight-day average of 93 hospitalizations per day on Monday, up from the 86 reported this time last week.

Over the eight days, Massachusetts reported 60,666 new vaccinations, bringing the state’s total to 8,847,368. More than 63 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. Massachusetts reached its goal of fully vaccinating 4.1 million residents on June 22, though the vaccination rate has slowed considerably since then.

Emerson reported two new positive COVID-19 tests in the past week, out of the 323 tests administered. Zero community members were reported to be in on-campus isolation or quarantine.

Since summer testing began on May 3, Emerson has reported three positive test out of the 3,678 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.