The quickly rising, extraordinarily contagious BA.5 variant is now the predominant COVID pressure throughout the area, because the Bay State on Tuesday reported greater than 4,000 new virus instances over the vacation weekend.
The omicron BA.5 subvariant has now surpassed the omicron BA.2.12.1 subvariant in New England, based on the up to date Centers for Disease Control and Prevention variant tracker. Epidemiologists have been warning that the BA.5 and BA.4 variants might spark a summer season COVID wave.
The BA.5 variant now represents 41.6% of recent instances within the area, up from 29.6% in final week’s variant report from the CDC. The BA.2.12.1 variant now represents 38.1% of recent instances, down from 50.7% in final week’s report.
Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported a every day price of 1,023 COVID instances over the Fourth of July weekend, much like the every day common of 1,017 infections through the vacation weekend two weeks in the past.
The state’s common % positivity is now 6.66%, up from the speed of 5.63% one week in the past. The constructive check price on Tuesday was greater at 7.02%.
State well being officers reported 15 COVID deaths, bringing the state’s complete recorded dying toll to twenty,970. The every day common of COVID deaths is now six. The dying price had been a lot greater after omicron hospitalizations surged.
After COVID hospitalizations ticked up by 23 sufferers, the state’s total affected person rely is now 509 sufferers. Hospitalizations have been plateauing within the final couple of weeks.
The state reported that 45 sufferers are in intensive care models, and 15 sufferers are at the moment intubated.
Of the general 509 hospitalized sufferers, 29% of the sufferers have been primarily hospitalized as a result of COVID, whereas 71% of the sufferers have been thought of incidental COVID hospitalizations.
More than 5.4 million individuals are absolutely vaccinated, and greater than 3.1 million folks have obtained a booster dose. Also, the state reported 583,351 extra boosters have been administered.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”