COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts
The COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts was part of an ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. The first confirmed case was reported on February 1, 2020, and the number of cases began increasing rapidly on March 5. Governor Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency on March 10. By March 12, more than a hundred people had tested positive for the virus. Massachusetts experienced a first wave of COVID-19 that peaked in late April 2020, with almost 4,000 people hospitalized with the disease, and a rolling seven-day average of 2,300 new confirmed cases and 175 confirmed deaths a day.[5] A second wave began in the autumn of the same year and peaked in January 2021, seeing higher daily case numbers but fewer deaths and hospitalizations than the first wave.[6][7] There was a smaller third spike of increased cases and hospitalizations in March and April 2021, which resulted in significantly fewer deaths than the first two waves.[8] A fourth wave began in July and August 2021.[9][10] Another wave occurred in the winter of 2021 to 2022, coinciding with the emergence of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant in the state, and exceeding the peak number of cases in any previous wave.[11] As of January 13, 2022, Massachusetts was experiencing a rolling average of 13,314 new confirmed cases and 43 confirmed deaths per day.[12][e]
As of January 13, 2022, Massachusetts had the third-highest number of reported cases per capita out of U.S. states over the previous seven-day period, with 2,416.4 cases per 100,000 people. It had the 14th-highest number of deaths per capita over the same period, with 5.4 deaths per 100,000 people.[13] There had been 1,411,613 total reported COVID-19 cases and 20,872 reported deaths among cases of COVID-19 in Massachusetts since the beginning of the pandemic. The state had tested more than 10 million people for the virus via molecular test, and more than 1.8 million via antigen test.[1] As of January 7, 2022, 91.6% of people in Massachusetts had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 75.0% were fully vaccinated.[2]
Epidemiology[edit]
Initial exposures and spread[edit]
Systematic testing did not begin until mid-March 2020, so it is unknown how the virus first spread in the state. The index case of COVID-19 in Massachusetts was reported on February 1, 2020, in Boston. The patient, a University of Massachusetts Boston student in his 20s, had recently returned to Boston from Wuhan, China.[15] The second confirmed case in Massachusetts was reported on March 2. The patient was a woman in her twenties from Norfolk County, who had recently traveled to Italy with a school group from Saint Raphael Academy in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.[18] The disease went undetected after entering Boston, then re-emerged in early March and spread to the state's remaining 13 counties within three weeks.[73]
Exposure clusters were reported from mid to late March 2020. Community transmission began to be reported on March 16, slightly exceeding cases related to travel.[74] Cases that had been contact-traced to Biogen plateaued on March 13, and were surpassed by local transmissions on March 23. Cases of unknown exposure surpassed those of known exposure on March 19, then continued to grow rapidly. When the Massachusetts Department of Public Health ceased updating statistics on exposure on March 27, there were 99 cases traced to Biogen, 163 cases of local transmission, 93 cases related to travel, and 2,885 cases where initial exposure was under investigation.[75]
Waves[edit]
Massachusetts experienced a first wave of COVID-19 that peaked in late April 2020. The rolling seven-day average of confirmed daily cases peaked at 2,300 on April 20, and average confirmed daily deaths peaked at 175 on April 24. Average hospitalizations peaked at 3,874 on April 27.[5]
A second wave began in the autumn of the same year and peaked in January 2021, seeing higher daily case numbers but fewer deaths and hospitalizations than the first wave.[76] The spike in cases began in October and, in the first days of December, daily case numbers surpassed those seen at the height of the first wave.[6][7] The rolling seven-day average of confirmed daily cases peaked at 6,238 on January 8, 2021, and average confirmed daily deaths peaked at 77 on January 28. Average hospitalizations peaked at 2,347 on January 7.[5]
A third spike in cases occurred in March and April 2021.[8] The state's rolling seven-day average of confirmed daily cases peaked at 2,042 on March 31, and average hospitalizations peaked at 720 on April 8.[5] The third wave resulted in fewer deaths than the previous two, which Senator Julian Cyr attributed to vaccines.[77]
A fourth wave began in July and August 2021.[9][10]
Another wave occurred in the winter of 2021 to 2022, coinciding with the emergence of the Omicron variant in the state, and exceeding the peak number of cases in any previous wave.[11] As of January 13, 2022, Massachusetts was experiencing a rolling average of 13,314 new confirmed cases and 43 confirmed deaths per day.[12][e]