Massachusetts reports 657 new COVID-19 cases, 5 additional deaths – WCVB Boston

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported an additional 657 confirmed COVID-19 cases Saturday, bringing the statewide total to 656,344 since the start of the pandemic.State health officials also added five confirmed COVID-19-related deaths to the state’s total, which is now 17,389.Saturday’s COVID-19 dashboard was delayed by more than 30 minutes due to technical issues, according to the DPH.On Friday, the DPH said it was informed of a reporting lag from a large laboratory which resulted in a lower number of tests and cases being reported that. Those results are included in Saturday’s dashboard.So far, about 8.37 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to Massachusetts, of which about 7.09 million, or 84.8%, have been administered. So far, about 3.18 million people in the state are fully vaccinated.An estimated 14,396 cases are active across Massachusetts, according to the report, the lowest mark reported since the metric was introduced last fall. Click here to see a graphical look at COVID-19 dataLatest town-by-town breakdown released by state The report said 352 patients with confirmed coronavirus cases were hospitalized in Massachusetts, of which 97 were reported to be in an intensive care unit.This marks the first time that the number of COVID-19 patients in ICUs across the state has been below 100 since Nov. 2, 2020.In the DPH’s weekly report released on Thursday, six communities were in the “Red,” or at high risk of COVID-19, down from 13 communities last week.The state says there have been 624,708 recoveries, according to the latest weekly report.Massachusetts COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and fatalitiesMassachusetts vaccination progressNew data is typically published daily around 5 p.m. and weekly reports are typically released on Thursdays, also around 5 p.m.