COVID cases nosedive, state's new method for counting deaths results in lower numbers

The state Department of Public Health Thursday said COVID-19 hospitalizations and weekly testing positive rates are plummeting to numbers similar to what the state saw last summer.

Coronavirus death rates also are dropping to numbers not seen for months and have even taken a bit of a backward turn, because the state changed the criteria by which it counts COVID-19 deaths.

As of this past Monday, state public health officials began counting as COVID-19 fatalities individuals who either had COVID-19 as a cause of death on their death certificate or who had a COVID-19 diagnosis within 30 days of their death.

Prior to Monday, the DPH had counted as COVID-19 fatalities people who had the disease listed as a cause of death on their death certificate or who had a COVID-19 diagnosis within 60 days of their death.

Effects of state's new COVID counting method

The new method of counting coronavirus deaths, with its shortened diagnostic timeframe, brings the state into alignment with guidance from the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists and helps to standardize death counts across the nation, according to the DPH.

"In Massachusetts, our definition has consistently been broader than most other states," state epidemiologist Dr. Catherine Brown said in a statement released by the DPH.

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"After a deep dive into our data and reviewing thousands of death certificates we recognize that this updated definition gives us a truer picture of mortality associated with COVID-19.”

Several other states are adopting the definition, state public health officials said.

Revised Massachusetts death tolls

In Massachusetts, the state's overall COVID-19 death count is declining by 3,700 cases, including approximately 100 in Barnstable County on Cape Cod.

Taking the new definition into account, the DPH said in its daily COVID-19 report on Thursday that the state has 10 new deaths of people with confirmed cases of coronavirus, for a total of 18,926 since the pandemic began, and one new probable death from coronavirus, for a total of 1,097.

Barnstable County had no new deaths reported in Thursday's daily accounting. It experienced 10 coronavirus fatalities over the last two-week period and now has a total of 573 COVID-19 fatalities.

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The new reporting system means the current number of total COVID-19 fatalities for Barnstable County on Cape Cod is lower than what was reported a week ago Thursday, which was 680.

State public health officials said the seven-day daily death average for the state is now 9.1, which is similar to the seven-day death averages seen in late October and late August.

Also on Thursday, the DPH said the state had 899 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 for a total of 1,551,810 since the pandemic began.

The daily report also included 120 new probable cases for a total of 133,245.

Barnstable County had 22 new cases of COVID-19, according to the daily report, for a total of 34,668 over the course of the pandemic.

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The DPH said the state's seven-day testing positivity average is 1.59%, which is equal to the average seen in July.

Hospitalizations continue to nosedive

The DPH said Thursday that as of Wednesday, there were 228 people with COVID-19 in Massachusetts hospitals of which only 78 — or 34% — were being treated primarily for a COVID-related illness.

Of those hospitalized with coronavirus, 140 were fully vaccinated.

The DPH said the current seven-day hospitalization average of 234.1 rivals early August.

As of Wednesday, Cape Cod Hospital in Hyannis had four patients with COVID-19 and Falmouth Hospital had one. None of the coronavirus patients was in intensive care.

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The number of cases reported by towns on Cape Cod for the past two-week period continues to drop, with the state reporting approximately 250 cases in Barnstable County for the past 14 days, compared to 280 reported for that time period last week and 4,880 cases reported Jan. 21.

The DPH weekly report of new cases in the last two weeks, number of total cases and testing positivity rates for the past two weeks for each town on Cape Cod follows.

Barnstable (58; 9,218; 2.87%); Bourne (14; 3,419; 1.67%); Brewster (14; 1,345; 2.56%); Chatham (less than five; 744; 2.31%); Dennis (16; 2,149; 2.88%); Eastham (less than five; 437; 2.04%); Falmouth (29; 4,091; 2.23%); Harwich (20; 1,921; 3.51%); Mashpee (13; 2,314; 1.79%); Orleans (6; 694; 2.52%); Provincetown (0; 444; 0.00%); Sandwich (33; 3,294; 4.10%); Truro (less than five; 173; 1.32%); Wellfleet (less than five; 253; 5.49%); and Yarmouth (36; 4,150; 3.36%).

Contact Cindy McCormick at cmccormick@capecodonline.com. Follow her on Twitter: @Cmccomickcct.

This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod: COVID cases plummet, death rates decline with new reporting