Boston’s COVID metrics are continuing to trend downward, as the city announced it will keep offering free vaccines at least through the end of the year.
Data from the Boston Public Health Commission’s wastewater surveillance program shows that the number of COVID particles in the city’s wastewater plummeted by 47% over the past two weeks.
The citywide wastewater average is now 1,014 viral RNA copies per milliliter, and seven out of the 11 neighborhoods tested below the citywide average: Charlestown, East Boston, Back Bay, South Boston, Jamaica Plain, Hyde Park, and Roslindale/West Roxbury. The neighborhoods above the average are Allston/Brighton, Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury.
BPHC’s decision to keep offering free COVID vaccines comes after the Biden administration said it plans to end the national public health emergency for COVID on May 11, which will end federal funding for state and local COVID responses.
“Offering free COVID-19 vaccines has been an indispensable part of our pandemic response in Boston and will become even more important as the national public health emergency ends,” said Bisola Ojikutu, BPHC’s executive director. “Equity-focused, public health polices like this are why we have been able to significantly reduce pandemic related racial and ethnic health disparities in Boston.”
On Thursday, the state Department of Public Health reported 4,591 virus cases over the last week. The daily average of 656 COVID cases from the last week was down 11% from the daily rate of 737 virus infections during the previous week.
The Bay State’s positive test average decreased again last week. The seven-day positive test rate is now 7.65%, down from 8.31% last week.
The state Department of Public Health on Thursday also reported that 691 total patients are hospitalized with COVID, which is a drop of 53 patients from this time last week.
The state reported 92 new COVID deaths over the past week, bringing the state’s total to 23,901 recorded deaths since the start of the pandemic. The daily average of deaths is now 10, which had been up in recent weeks.
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 more than 1.6 million additional booster doses have been administered.