Coronavirus cases surge past 1,000 statewide, as cases in Attleboro area drop

In the 10 communities covered by The Sun Chronicle, reported cases decreased by 2, from 29 to 27, for the same period. That’s a percentage decrease of 6.89%.

The 10 communities are Attleboro, North Attleboro, Plainville, Mansfield, Norton, Foxboro, Wrentham, Norfolk, Seekonk and Rehoboth.

The number of COVID-19 cases in the area and state, however, is not accurate and the figure is likely higher because of the prevalence of home-testing kits. Not all the positive cases found through home-testing are reported to health officials. Also, many people who become ill with COVID-like symptoms — fever, congestion, sneezing, fatigue, body aches, and headaches — don’t bother testing as the virus has weakened and the symptoms caused by the virus are less severe.

Reported cases in the 10 communities covered by The Sun Chronicle have ranged from 11 to 22 for 13 weeks.

In week 15, they exceeded the 22 by 5 reported cases.

It’s the fourth consecutive week the number of reported cases has gone up, exceeding the 1,000 mark for the first time in 16 weeks.

The last 21 weeks statewide the number has gone from 4,999 to 1,151 cases which is a decrease of 76.97%.

That percentage has shrunk over the last four weeks from 88.79% to 76.97%, a decrease of 11.82%.

In the week ending June 29, no towns reported zero cases.

There were 178 coronavirus tests administered in the 10 communities covered by The Sun Chronicle with 27 positives which is a percentage of 15.16%, or 2.88 points higher than the week ending June 22.

The average for the 10 communities is 15.95%. That’s a decrease of 58 tests from the 236 recorded last week which equals 24.57%.

For context, the highest number of new cases statewide for one week was recorded on Jan. 14, 2022, at 132,557.

The highest number locally for one week was 3,463, recorded on Jan. 13, 2022.

All told, since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, the area has recorded 50,989 cases. That’s 25.39% of the 200,793 population in the 10 communities covered by The Sun Chronicle.

Percentages of the disease in each community range from 22% to 29% (rounded up) and the average is 24.77%

Norfolk is the lowest at 22.07% and Attleboro is the highest at 28.73%.

In the week ending June 29, the case counts in each of the 10 communities were:

• Attleboro, 4
• Foxboro,
• Mansfield, 2
• Norfolk, 4
• North Attleboro, 3
• Norton, 2
• Plainville, 1
• Rehoboth, 2
• Seekonk, 2
• Wrentham, 3

Statewide, the number was 1,151 confirmed cases with 330 probable cases, for a total statewide of 2,160,647 confirmed and probable cases since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.

The number of confirmed deaths statewide for the week of June 29 was 6 and the number of probable deaths was 0.

The number of confirmed deaths statewide since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 is 23,496 and the number of confirmed and probable deaths is 30,008.

A recent poll for the 10 communities covered by The Sun Chronicle reported the total number of deaths at 520. That’s a death rate of 1.02%.

Death totals per community covered by The Sun Chronicle were:

• Attleboro, 199
• Foxboro, 29
• Mansfield, 44
• Norfolk, 8
• North Attleboro, 96
• Norton, 18
• Plainville, 22
• Rehoboth, 23
• Seekonk, 15
• Wrentham, 66

Most of the deaths were suffered by those over 65.

New statistics were submitted for the week ending June 22 regarding the rate of positive tests which are up 1.4% to 8.1% and emergency room visits are up 0.9% to 23.3%

Hospital admissions for the week ending June 22 showed no change with 1.5 persons per 100,000 being hospitalized.

Deaths were up 0.8% to 14.3%.

The percentage rate for all deaths nationwide is 1.1%.