Bristol County's COVID cases up 20.3%; Massachusetts cases surge 14%
New coronavirus cases leaped in Massachusetts in the week ending Sunday, rising 14% as 10,267 cases were reported. The previous week had 9,004 new cases of the virus that causes COVID-19.
Massachusetts ranked 10th among the states where coronavirus was spreading the fastest on a per-person basis, a USA TODAY Network analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the latest week coronavirus cases in the United States decreased 0.6% from the week before, with 401,433 cases reported. With 2.07% of the country's population, Massachusetts had 2.56% of the country's cases in the last week. Across the country, 17 states had more cases in the latest week than they did in the week before.
Bristol County reported 728 cases and seven deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 605 cases and zero deaths. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 169,713 cases and 2,270 deaths.
Newport County reported 78 cases and zero deaths in the latest week. A week earlier, it had reported 72 cases and one death. Throughout the pandemic it has reported 24,211 cases and 99 deaths.
Within Massachusetts, the worst weekly outbreaks on a per-person basis were in Hampshire County with 257 cases per 100,000 per week; Berkshire County with 238; and Hampden County with 186. The Centers for Disease Control says high levels of community transmission begin at 100 cases per 100,000 per week.
Adding the most new cases overall were Middlesex County, with 1,975 cases; Worcester County, with 1,101 cases; and Essex County, with 1,022. Weekly case counts rose in 11 counties from the previous week. The worst increases from the prior week's pace were in Hampshire, Worcester and Suffolk counties.
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In Massachusetts, 58 ​ people were reported dead of COVID-19 in the week ending Sunday. In the week before that, 52 people were reported dead.
A total of 2,040,602 people in Massachusetts have tested positive for the coronavirus since the pandemic began, and 21,646 people have died from the disease, Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the United States 96,070,980 people have tested positive and 1,056,416 people have died.
Note: For Massachusetts, Johns Hopkins University reports data in a combined health department for Dukes and Nantucket counties. Those two counties may appear without any cases, and this will skew rankings of counties.
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Massachusetts's COVID-19 hospital admissions rising
USA TODAY analyzed federal hospital data as of Sunday, Sept. 25. Likely COVID patients admitted in the state:
Last week: 1,407
The week before that: 1,353
Four weeks ago: 1,271
Likely COVID patients admitted in the nation:
Last week: 55,707
The week before that: 55,506
Four weeks ago: 64,244
Hospitals in 13 states reported more COVID-19 patients than a week earlier, while hospitals in 20 states had more COVID-19 patients in intensive-care beds. Hospitals in 25 states admitted more COVID-19 patients in the latest week than a week prior, the USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Health and Human Services data shows.
The USA TODAY Network is publishing localized versions of this story on its news sites across the country, generated with data from Johns Hopkins University and the Centers for Disease Control. If you have questions about the data or the story, contact Mike Stucka at mstucka@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Bristol County reported 728 additional COVID-19 cases this week
