Taunton has 3rd worst week of pandemic overall, despite slight dip in new COVID cases

Kristina Fontes, The Taunton Daily Gazette
·6 min read

TAUNTON — Though there was a slight dip in new COVID cases reported in the city over the past week, it was still Taunton's third worst week of the pandemic overall.

There were 915 new cases of COVID-19 reported for Taunton over the last week. That weekly total is only beat by the previous two weeks of reporting: there were 1,015 new cases the week of Jan. 6 and 1,257 new COVID cases the week of Jan. 13.

The latest weekly report from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, released on Thursday, recorded more than 2,000 new COVID cases across the Greater Taunton area: 2,376.

This means that there have been new weekly case totals in Greater Taunton that have been higher than 1,000 per week for five weeks now.

For the first time, people across the U.S. can log on to a government website and order free, at-home COVID-19 tests.
For the first time, people across the U.S. can log on to a government website and order free, at-home COVID-19 tests.

Taunton has now surpassed more than 13,000 cases since the pandemic began, with a total of 13,472.

According to the DPH report, Taunton's running two-week case total is 2,255, and the city's daily incidence rate this past week was 279.8 per 100,000 in population.

Taunton's positivity rate has climbed for the past month, from 24.93% last week to 25.40% this week.

That's higher than the state's seven-day average, which is 15.03% as of Thursday.

On Thursday, state health officials also reported 14,384 new cases of COVID-19. There have been a total of 1,404,214 cases statewide since the pandemic began.

Officials also reported 86 new COVID-related deaths. The state's death toll is 20,782 people.

Mass. DPH is also reporting that 71 people in Bristol County have died over the last two weeks, and that the total confirmed and probable COVID deaths in Bristol County is now 2,186 people.

Who's been vaccinated?

Currently in Taunton, 14% of kids age 5 to 11 have been fully vaccinated. That is 642 children out of a population of 4,494 in that age group.

So far, Norton has the highest percentage of fully vaccinated kids in that demographic in the Greater Taunton area, with 33%.

Countywide, Fall River has the lowest percentage of fully vaccinated children ages 5 to 11, with 10%. Mansfield, at 46%, has the highest percentage so far.

Across Greater Taunton, here is how the effort is going to vaccinate children ages 5 to 11:

  • Taunton: 23% partially vaccinated; 14% fully vaccinated (642 out of 4,494 pop.)

  • Berkley: 25% partially vaccinated; 17% fully vaccinated (101 out of 584 pop.)

  • Dighton: 26% partially vaccinated; 18% fully vaccinated (126 out of 711 pop.)

  • Freetown: 29% partially vaccinated; 21% fully vaccinated (147 out of 713 pop.)

  • Lakeville: 39% partially vaccinated; 30% fully vaccinated (259 out of 854 pop.)

  • Middleboro: 20% partially vaccinated; 14% fully vaccinated (284 out of 1,991 pop.)

  • Norton: 40% partially vaccinated; 33% fully vaccinated (433 out of 1,326 pop.)

  • Raynham: 36% partially vaccinated; 28% fully vaccinated (357 out of 1,291 pop.)

  • Rehoboth: 20% partially vaccinated; 12% fully vaccinated (118 out of 988 pop.)

Overall, Taunton has reached 64% full vaccination. As of the latest report, that is 37,080 people in the city.

Seventy-two percent, or 41,358 people, have received at least one dose.

Someone is considered fully vaccinated when they are two weeks out from receiving either a one-dose Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine or the second dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccines.

As of this week, the only two towns in the Greater Taunton area that have not met or exceeded 60% full vaccination are Middleboro and Rehoboth.

The latest overall vaccination figures for Greater Taunton:

  • Berkley: 70% partially vaccinated; 63% fully vaccinated

  • Dighton: 70% partially vaccinated; 63% fully vaccinated

  • Freetown: 75% partially vaccinated; 68% fully vaccinated

  • Lakeville: 76% partially vaccinated; 69% fully vaccinated

  • Middleboro: 63% partially vaccinated; 57% fully vaccinated

  • Norton: 73% partially vaccinated; 65% fully vaccinated

  • Raynham: 79% partially vaccinated; 71% fully vaccinated

  • Rehoboth: 64% partially vaccinated; 55% fully vaccinated

So far, more than 15.3 million (15,399,950) vaccine doses have been shipped to the state, and more than 13.3 million (13,377,207) have now been administered.

The state has also administered more than 2.5 million booster shots as of Thursday: 2,553,676, to be precise.

The COVID-19 vaccines are all free, and some locations that offer the vaccine accept walk-ins. Visit the state's Vaxfinder website to book an appointment, or call 211.

As of the latest DPH vaccine report, 5,168,283 Massachusetts residents are fully vaccinated.

Bristol County COVID vaccine tracker: 63% of people fully vaccinated

Hospitalizations due to COVID

All hospitals in Massachusetts are now reporting two separate datasets when it comes to COVID-19 and hospitalizations: the number of patients hospitalized primarily for COVID-19, and those who are hospitalized for something else and then test positive while hospitalized.

According to state health officials, there are 3,192 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Massachusetts, and 462 of them are in an intensive care unit.

Of those patients, 1,666 (52%) were hospitalized primarily for COVID-19. The others, 1,526 (47.8%), tested positive for COVID-19 while they were hospitalized for other reasons.

At Morton Hospital in Taunton, Mass. DPH reports that there are 48 people hospitalized with COVID, and four of them are in the ICU.

Patient safety survey: Here's how Morton Hospital did on safety ratings in specific areas

COVID in Greater Taunton

All of Taunton's surrounding towns reported slight decreases in new COVID cases over the past week, though cases throughout the area remain in a surge.

Middleboro once again reported the highest weekly total, other than Taunton, with 328 new cases.

Norton and Raynham each reported more than 200 new cases this past week, with 221 and 284, respectively.

Only Dighton reported less than 100 new cases, with Mass. DPH recording 79 new cases of COVID-19 in that town over the past week.

Over the past week, DPH reports that there were 2,376 (including the 915 cases in Taunton) new cases of COVID-19 reported for Greater Taunton:

  • Berkley: 128 new cases; 1,583 total; 271 two-week running case count; 284.0 average daily incidence rate; 30.66% positivity.

  • Dighton: 79 new cases; 1,557 total; 230 two-week running case count; 207.2 average daily incidence rate; 23.95% positivity.

  • Freetown: 128 new cases; 2,079 total; 324 two-week running case count; 255.7 average daily incidence rate; 23.83% positivity.

  • Lakeville: 164 new cases; 2,356 total; 404 two-week running case count; 253.8 average daily incidence rate; 27.48% positivity.

  • Middleboro: 328 new cases; 4,864 total; 726 two-week running case count; 189.2 average daily incidence rate; 20.55% positivity.

  • Norton: 221 new cases; 3,237 total; 584 two-week running case count; 209.5 average daily incidence rate; 21.57% positivity.

  • Raynham: 284 new cases; 3,397 total; 602 two-week running case count; 284.3 average daily incidence rate; 23.63% positivity.

  • Rehoboth: 129 new cases; 2,129 total; 318 two-week running case count; 178.7 average daily incidence rate; 25.96% positivity.

Taunton Daily Gazette/Herald News copy editor and digital producer Kristina Fontes can be reached at kfontes@heraldnews.com. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News and Taunton Daily Gazette today.

This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: Taunton has 3rd worst week of COVID pandemic surpasses 13000 cases