fb-pixel Skip to main content

Mass. reports 3,957 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, 87 new deaths Saturday

Kianna Harris is pictured as she took a sample for a COVID-19 test from a patient at the drive through testing area behind the offices of Middleton Family Medicine Thursday.Jim Davis/Globe Staff

The state’s Department of Public Health reported 3,957 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 Saturday, along with 87 new deaths.

The latest figures bring the total number of cases in Massachusetts to 495,599, while the death toll due to the disease grew to 14,241.

A technical issue delayed the reporting of about 24,800 laboratory results — including positive and negative tests — which would have been included in Friday’s report, the state said on its website. This meant lower than usual total of molecular tests and new cases were included in the Friday report.

Those results were included in figures released Saturday, the state said.

Advertisement



On Saturday, the health department reported that 72,965 people were estimated to have active cases of the potentially deadly virus. There are 1,739 confirmed coronavirus patients in the hospital.

As of Saturday, 143,342 more molecular tests had been conducted for coronavirus, the state reported. The total number of tests administered climbed to more than 13.5 million. The state said 2,426 new antigen tests have been completed, bringing that total to 473,061.


The state also reported that the seven-day average rate of positive tests, which is calculated from the total number of tests administered, was at 3.89 percent. The lowest observed figure for that metric — a number watched closely by state officials — is 0.8 percent.

The state said the rate would be 5.9 percent if the effect of college testing programs — in which asymptomatic people can be tested repeatedly in an effort to rapidly identify new cases — is factored out.

To take a deeper dive into the state’s coronavirus statistics click here.


John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com.