The Boston-area COVID wastewater levels are staying elevated in the days before Christmas gatherings, as the state reported another jump in new virus cases and doctors urge residents to get boosters and flu shots.
The virus wastewater data has helped predict COVID waves throughout the pandemic. The local sewage data has been rising since Thanksgiving, and the levels remained high in the last week.
The seven-day average in the south-of-Boston region is now 1,331 viral copies per milliliter, which is up 85% since Thanksgiving. The north-of-Boston region’s seven-day average is now 1,179 viral copies per milliliter, which is a 144% spike.
Meanwhile, the Bay State’s daily average of 1,317 COVID cases from the last week is a 10% increase from the daily rate of 1,199 virus infections during the previous week.
The state’s positive test average is rising again. The seven-day positive test rate is now 9.58%, up from 8.68% last week.
The state on Thursday also reported that 908 total patients are hospitalized with COVID, which is an increase of 52 patients from this time last week.
The state reported 96 new COVID deaths over the past week, bringing the state’s total to 22,793 recorded deaths since the start of the pandemic. The daily average of deaths is now 12, which is lower than the daily death rate during the initial omicron surge.
More than 5.6 million people in the state have been fully vaccinated, and more than 3.4 million people have received at least one booster dose. Also, the state reported that 1.5 million additional booster doses have been administered.
Doctors are urging residents to get COVID boosters and flu shots, with flu severity “very high” in Massachusetts amid the holidays.
“With the holiday season here, the physicians of the Massachusetts Medical Society urge all individuals to exercise caution and make use of proven and effective preventive measures to remain safe, and reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19, influenza and other contagious respiratory diseases that are causing serious illness driving a strain on our health care system,” Ted Calianos, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, said in a statement.
“We recommend that anyone who hasn’t received a COVID-19 vaccine in the last six months — young and old alike — get the updated bivalent vaccine, which is effective in reducing serious illness and death and is available at no cost,” he said, later adding, “Although the flu season has been especially bad this year, there is still time to receive the flu shot, which is proving to be very effective in reducing the risk of serious illness.”
The doctors are also urging people who gather indoors to wear high-quality masks, and to stay home when not feeling well.
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