The number of new cases of COVID-19 children continues to rise according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.
Massachusetts health officials reported another 883 confirmed coronavirus cases -- the most in a single day since early May -- and two new deaths on Tuesday, while the positive test rate rose above 2.5%.
The report pushed the state's confirmed COVID-19 caseload to 675,425 since the start of the pandemic and its death toll to 17,718. The last time more than 883 COVID cases were reported in one day was on May 6.
The state's COVID metrics, tracked on the Department of Public Health's interactive coronavirus dashboard, are far lower than they were several months ago, though some have been rising in recent weeks. While breakthrough cases are being reported, officials say most new cases, and especially serious infections, are in the unvaccinated.
Massachusetts' seven-day average of positive tests rose to 2.54% on Tuesday. It was once above 30%, but had dropped under 0.5% until the delta variant began surging in the state.
The number of patients in Massachusetts hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 cases rose to 226; the figure was once nearly 4,000, but averaged under 85 in July. Of those currently hospitalized, 51 are listed as being in intensive care units and 16 are intubated.
More Mass. COVID News
More than 8.9 million vaccine doses have been administered in Massachusetts as of Tuesday. That includes nearly 4.6 million first shots and nearly 4.1 million second shots of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. There have been more than 289,000 doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine administered.
Health officials on Tuesday reported that a total of 4,370,288 Bay State residents have been fully vaccinated.
