Boston’s COVID-19 rate on the decline, according to the latest wastewater numbers in city

A vaccination clinic at the Samuel Adams Elementary School in East Boston on Dec. 8.John Tlumacki/Globe Staff

Boston’s COVID-19 statistics continue “to trend downward,” city officials said Wednesday while urging people to maintain precautions against the potentially deadly virus.

In a statement, the Boston Public Heath Commission said COVID-19 particles in the city’s wastewater dropped by 47 percent over the previous two weeks, with readings now at an average of “1,014 RNA copies/mL” as of Jan. 29.

Seven of 11 neighborhoods tested are now below the citywide average for wastewater, health officials said. The commission said the XBB variant accounted for 83 percent of viral particles that were sampled.

COVID-19 cases per day had increased by 1.4 percent over the past seven days, which is considered a “stable trend,” the commission said. As of Feb. 5, new cases decreased 16 percent over the previous two weeks.

Boston hospitals had 179 new admissions related to COVID-19 through February 6, per the commission’s statement.

“This trend decreased by 8 percent over the past seven days and by 15 percent over the past 14 days,” officials said.

The commission said it will continue offering free COVID-19 vaccines at sites throughout the city through the end of the year.

“Offering free COVID-19 vaccines has been an indispensable part of our pandemic response in Boston and will become even more important as the national public health emergency ends,” Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, the city’s public health commissioner, said in the statement. “Equity-focused, public health polices like this are why we have been able to significantly reduce pandemic related racial and ethnic health disparities in Boston.”

The commission urges Bostonians to test for COVID-19 before and after gathering indoors, contact a health care provider about treatment options in the event of a positive test, stay home when sick, mask up indoors and on public transit, and stay up to date on vaccinations and boosters.

“If you have not received a COVID-19 booster since September 2022, you are due to receive the bivalent, omicron-specific booster,” officials said.