The number of reported coronavirus cases continued to rise in the week ending August 24.
The numbers aren’t especially high, but they are slowly rising for the fourth week in a row locally and a seventh week in a row statewide.
However, today most cases of COVID-19 go unreported to health officials, as most people test at home or never get tested because the virus has weakened. As a result, the number of cases is likely to be higher than reported.
New coronavirus cases increased by 16, from 35 to 51, in the area of 10 communities covered by The Sun Chronicle in the week ending Aug. 24. That’s a 45% increase.
It’s the biggest increase since April 6, when the number was 50.
The Sun Chronicle coverage area includes Attleboro, North Attleboro, Foxboro, Mansfield, Norfolk, Norton, Plainville, Rehoboth, Seekonk and Wrentham.
The largest local weekly increase in the history of the pandemic was 3,463 for the week ending January 13, 2022.
Statewide, the number of new reported cases increased by 459, to 2,048, in the week ending Aug. 24, more than double the 212 recorded in the week ending Aug. 17.
Last week, the number was 1,589. That’s a 28% increase.
The total number of coronavirus cases reported locally since the pandemic began in March 2020 is 48,756 and the total number of confirmed cases statewide is 2,053,003.
The number of confirmed and probable cases statewide is 2,262,329.
The highest statewide increase was 132,557 for the week ending January 14, 2022.
Most of the new cases stem from a subvariant known as EG.5 that is sweeping across the country.
The virus has weakened since its onset in March 2020.
Sturdy Memorial Hospital medical director Dr. Brian Patel told The Sun Chronicle that COVID cases now are rarely serious, but some require hospitalization.
“However, there is no evidence that this variant is causing more severe disease than the other COVID variants currently in circulation,” he said.
“At Sturdy Health, we are seeing an increase in hospitalizations for patients with COVID-19, but the majority of patients do not have severe illness and are recovering well.”
The number of deaths in the week ending August 24 was 17, one more than in the week ending August 17.
The probable death toll from the virus was three.
The virus is most dangerous for the elderly population. The average age of those who die from the disease is 80 years.
Since March 2020, there have been 22,784 confirmed coronavirus deaths and 24,802 confirmed and probable coronavirus deaths.
There has been no recent survey of area communities on deaths from the virus, but the latest figure is 456.
