Massachusetts COVID cases drop 21% over the weekend, more than 2 million rapid tests to be distributed

State health officials on Monday reported just over 4,000 COVID cases over the weekend, another virus drop as the state announced it will begin distributing more than 2 million rapid tests to cities and towns.

The state Department of Public Health reported a daily average of 1,334 COVID cases over the weekend, which was down 21% from the daily rate of 1,687 infections last weekend.

The omicron BA.2 variant and the BA.2.12.1 subvariant have contributed to a recent increase in cases. The Boston-area COVID-19 wastewater data had been rising, but then the predictive wastewater levels started falling again.

The state’s positive test average had been jumping, but has trended down over the past couple of weeks. The average is now 5.61% — down from 6.55% last week. The average for the weekend report was lower at 5.12%.

Meanwhile, the Gov. Charlie Baker administration on Monday announced that the state this week will begin distributing more than 2 million rapid tests for municipalities to provide to residents.

“This initiative builds upon the Commonwealth’s nation-leading efforts to make testing accessible for residents throughout the pandemic,” Baker said in a statement. “Along with vaccines and treatments, testing remains an important tool to manage COVID, which is why we will continue to ensure testing resources remain widely available.”

The state reported 13 new COVID-19 deaths, bringing the total recorded death toll to 20,763. The seven-day average of daily deaths is now nine, which had been much higher following the omicron hospitalization surge.

There are now 550 COVID patients hospitalized in the state, an increase of 17 patients from Friday’s count. Hospitalizations had been spiking for several weeks amid the omicron surge but then started falling again.

The state reported that 50 patients are in intensive care units, and 14 patients are currently intubated.

Almost 5.4 million people are fully vaccinated, and more than 3 million people have received a booster dose. Also, the state reported 534,443 additional boosters have been administered.