Massachusetts DPH: Residents Are Still Dying From COVID-19

We are wrapping up the fifth summer season since COVID-19, and people are still getting sick, with some dying from the virus.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health says the statewide total case rate for the season (June 30, 2024, to August 31, 2024) saw 18,930 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 6,375 probable COVID-19 cases.

State health officials report, "There have been a total of 110 confirmed COVID-19 deaths and 23 probable COVID-19 deaths during the season."

DPH reports a case rate of 281.3 per 100,000 residents in Bristol County and 266.6 per 100,000 in Plymouth County during the season.

A further breakdown by community indicates there was a case rate of 447.2 per 100,000 residents in New Bedford, 273.4 in Fall River, 131.3 in Taunton, 423.3 in Dartmouth, 332.8 in Fairhaven, and 502.1 in Wareham during the season

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health's COVID-19 dashboard is accessible online.

Health officials expect the numbers to rise as the weather cools and people head indoors, children are back in school, and folks gather for the holidays.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports, "The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported 'high' or 'very high' levels of the virus in wastewater in almost every state."

The paper says, "The rate of hospitalizations with COVID is nearly twice what it was at this time last summer, and deaths - despite being down almost 75 percent from what they were at the worst of the pandemic - are still double what they were this spring."

In an article titled "On the COVID 'off-ramp': No tests, isolation or masks," the Union-Tribune says, "For many, COVID is increasingly regarded like the common cold."