Massachusetts reports almost 10,000 new cases, virus hospitalizations tick up

State health officials on Thursday reported almost 10,000 confirmed COVID cases from the last week, as virus hospitalizations ticked up amid the extremely contagious BA.5 variant.

The daily average of 1,422 COVID cases is similar to the daily rate of 1,464 infections during the previous week.

The positive test average had been climbing in recent weeks as the omicron BA.5 subvariant takes over. The seven-day positive test rate is now 8.09%, a dip from 8.17% a week ago.

The highly infectious BA.5 variant is now responsible for more than four out of five new cases in New England, according to this week’s update from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The BA.5 variant now accounts for 81.4% of new cases, a jump from 77.1% last week, according to the CDC. The BA.4 variant accounts for 12.6% of new cases, a tick up from 12.3% last week.

The BA.2.12.1 variant has taken the biggest drop in recent weeks. The previously dominant variant is now responsible for 5.7% of new cases, down from 10.1% last week.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health is now reporting its COVID data on a weekly basis, reflecting the evolving COVID response in the state. Previously, the COVID-19 Interactive Data Dashboard had been published five days a week.

The state reported 38 new COVID deaths over the past week, bringing the state’s total to 21,176 recorded deaths since the start of the pandemic. The daily average of deaths is now seven, which is significantly lower than the daily death rate during the initial omicron surge.