Newton's COVID-19 Positivity Rate Lowers To 6.7%

NEWTON, MA — Newton's positive COVID-19 test rate is now at 6.7 percent, a 4.5 percent decrease since last week, according to the latest municipal-level data released by the Department of Public Health Thursday.

This week, the City of Newton reported a two-week case count of 1,728 compared to last week's case count of 2,208, a sign that local cases are continuing to slow. Also over the past week, Newton was adding 134.6 new cases per day per 100,000 people. That's much lower than the 172 cases per 100,000 in Newton measured on Jan. 21.

On Thursday afternoon, the state Department of Public Health reported 8,616 new coronavirus cases statewide and 84 new deaths. The weekly average case count was 6,013.4 daily cases, down more than 50 percent from 12,080.1 a week before.

The latest vaccine report shows the number of residents who are fully vaccinated has risen to 5.19 million. Just over 87 percent are fully vaccinated in Newton, and over 95 percent are partially vaccinated.

The state releases town-by-town testing data every Thursday, including the number of people tested, the testing rate, the positive test rate, cases and infection rates.