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State health officials on Thursday reported 6,477 new cases of the coronavirus, which includes a backlog of 680 cases.
“The delay in notification was caused by a technical issue with the software used by this lab’s reporting provider,” health officials said.
Officials also reported 49 new COVID-related deaths, for a total of 10,637 confirmed deaths since the start of the pandemic.
Thursday’s workload is based on 111,734 new molecular tests, according to the Department of Public Health. There are now 49,225 active cases of the virus statewide, officials said.
There have been 232,264 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Massachusetts since the start of the pandemic.
The seven-day average of positive tests rose to 5.29%, up from a low of 0.8% in September. Hospitalizations increased to 1,324, including 261 patients in intensive care.
Thursday’s figures come as state officials announced that Lowell General Hospital is setting up a field hospital to handle the influx of COVID-19 patients amid the continuing outbreak.
Governor Charlie Baker said the second field hospital will be operational in the coming weeks and will serve the northeastern part of the state.
Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders, who oversees the COVID-19 command center, said the state was in talks to establish a field hospital in southeastern Massachusetts. The state has no plans at this time in Boston, she added.
But Boston Mayor Walsh said the city may consider setting up the makeshift care facility at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center if trends don’t improve. The city has reported a sharp increase in cases and hospitalizations after Thanksgiving.
“By Tuesday, we could build a field hospital,” Walsh said. “Or Tuesday, we could talk about improving numbers in our region.”
Here is the number of coronavirus cases in each county of Massachusetts:
Barnstable County: 3,289
Berkshire County: 1780
Bristol County: 21,368
Dukes County: 291
Essex County: 37,476
Franklin County: 699
Hampden County: 17163
Hampshire County: 2,450
Middlesex County: 48,896
Nantucket County: 351
Norfolk County: 17,069
Plymouth County: 15,545
Suffolk County: 38,648
County of Worcester: 26,552
Unknown location: 687
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