No surprises, although Massachusetts did hit several negative milestones in the past several days – test positivity rates of 10% for those newly tested, test positivity rates of 5% outside of higher education, and an overall test positivity rate of 3%. The total number of tests continues to increase, but slowly, and the percentage of first-time testers remains about 25%.
| Table 1: Massachusetts Testing Statistics | ||||
| 7 Day Trailing Average | ||||
| November 14, 2020 | ||||
| Testing Statistic | Current | 7 Days Ago | 4 Weeks Ago | |
| Test Positivity Rate (Individuals) | 10.5% | 8.4% | 4.5% | |
| Test Positivity Rate (Include Suspected) | 11.3% | 8.9% | 4.7% | |
| Test Positivity Rate (All Tests) | 3.1% | 2.6% | 1.3% | |
| Test Positivity Rate (Newly Tested) | 10.5% | 8.4% | 4.5% | |
| Test Positivity Rate (Repeat Testers) | 0.5% | 0.5% | 0.3% | |
| Percentage Repeat Testers | 74.3% | 73.6% | 75.7% | |
| Test Positivity Rate (Higher Ed) | 0.3% | 0.2% | 0.1% | |
| Test Positivity Rate (Non Higher Ed) | 5.2% | 4.3% | 2.4% | |
| Percentage Higher Ed Testers | 43.1% | 42.1% | 46.9% | |
| Newly Tested (Lagged 1 Week) | 20,250 | 17,630 | 17,146 | |
| Higher Ed Tests (Lagged 1 Week) | 32,323 | 30,730 | 30,228 | |
| All Tests (Lagged 1 Week) | 76,715 | 70,172 | 65,510 | |
Hospitalization statistics are back to where they were in early to mid-July, but of course the numbers were headed down then, and they are now headed up. Unfortunately, total hospitalizations are increasing at a faster clip – Massachusetts’ hospitals added almost 170 patients in the last 7 days compared to just under 100 in the 7 days prior to that. It also appears that patients are a bit more ill than they were four weeks ago, as the percentage of hospitalized patients in the ICU, and percentage of ICU patients who are intubated are higher than they were.
| Table 2: Massachusetts Hospitalization Statistics | ||||
| 7 Day Trailing Average | ||||
| November 14, 2020 | ||||
| Hospitalization Statistic | Current | 7 Days Ago | 4 Weeks Ago | |
| Confirmed Patients Hospitalized | 641 | 491 | 319 | |
| Confirmed Patients in ICU | 149 | 107 | 59 | |
| Confirmed Patients Intubed | 68 | 54 | 24 | |
| Net New Confirmed Patients | 24 | 14 | (3) | |
| Net New ICU Patients | 3 | 5 | (0) | |
| Net New Intubated Patients | 2 | 2 | 0 | |
| Percent ICU / Hospitalized | 23% | 22% | 19% | |
| Percent Intubated / ICU | 46% | 50% | 40% | |
A higher test positivity rate naturally leads to more cases – we’ve had over 2000 reported confirmed cases each day this week. That number may drop Sunday and Monday, as reporting tends to slow down over the weekend. The 7 day average of reported deaths, which had been somewhat held in check, hit 24 today for the first time since July 2. On July 2nd, 70% of those deaths were in long-term care facilities compared to 53% today, which implies that healthier people are dying now.
| Table 3: Massachusetts Reported Case and Death Statistics | ||||
| 7 Day Trailing Average | ||||
| November 14, 2020 | ||||
| Statistic | Current | 7 Days Ago | 4 Weeks Ago | |
| Total Deaths Including Suspected | 24 | 20 | 19 | |
| Total Deaths Confirmed Only | 23 | 20 | 19 | |
| Deaths in Long-Term Facilities (All Cases) | 13 | 10 | 13 | |
| Percent from Long-Term Care | 53% | 51% | 67% | |
| Total Cases Including Suspected | 2367 | 1573 | 657 | |
| Total Confirmed Cases | 2219 | 1488 | 615 | |