COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to decrease in Massachusetts and across the country after the peak of the dramatic omicron surge. In Massachusetts, 4,195 new coronavirus cases were reported by the Department of Public Health on Friday. On the previous Friday, the state reported 7,181 new cases and it reported 13,935 on the Friday before that. “The omicron surge was so powerful that we saw three times as many cases than in the peak of any other surge cases still are now almost as high as they were in the peak about a year ago,” said Dr. Todd Ellerin, chief of infectious diseases at South Shore Health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that as of Wednesday, cases are down 53.1% from their peak on Jan. 15. However, other metrics remain high. In Massachusetts, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients is roughly half of what it was in mid-January but is still three times what it was in October. The CDC reports that community transmission is considered to be high across all of Massachusetts and 99% of all counties across the nation.”I love that cases around the country are going down right now, but we can’t just look at case counts. We’ve also got to look at transmission and hospitalization rates,” said Dr. Ali Raja, executive vice chair of Emergency Medicine at MGH.The United States also reached a somber milestone with more than 900,000 lives lost to the virus. Ellerin said the majority of deaths he witnesses are in younger, unvaccinated individuals. “It’s really hard when you see patients that you care about and you just want them to essentially put on their molecular seatbelt which is that vaccine,” he said.
COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations continue to decrease in Massachusetts and across the country after the peak of the dramatic omicron surge.
In Massachusetts, 4,195 new coronavirus cases were reported by the Department of Public Health on Friday. On the previous Friday, the state reported 7,181 new cases and it reported 13,935 on the Friday before that.
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“The omicron surge was so powerful that we saw three times as many cases than in the peak of any other surge cases still are now almost as high as they were in the peak about a year ago,” said Dr. Todd Ellerin, chief of infectious diseases at South Shore Health.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that as of Wednesday, cases are down 53.1% from their peak on Jan. 15. However, other metrics remain high.
In Massachusetts, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients is roughly half of what it was in mid-January but is still three times what it was in October.
The CDC reports that community transmission is considered to be high across all of Massachusetts and 99% of all counties across the nation.
“I love that cases around the country are going down right now, but we can’t just look at case counts. We’ve also got to look at transmission and hospitalization rates,” said Dr. Ali Raja, executive vice chair of Emergency Medicine at MGH.
The United States also reached a somber milestone with more than 900,000 lives lost to the virus.
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Ellerin said the majority of deaths he witnesses are in younger, unvaccinated individuals.
“It’s really hard when you see patients that you care about and you just want them to essentially put on their molecular seatbelt which is that vaccine,” he said.