ATTLEBORO — For the tenth consecutive week, reported coronavirus cases decreased statewide.
But in the 10 communities covered by The Sun Chronicle, they increased by 10, from 17 to 27, in the week ending March 16. That’s an increase of 58.28%.
Statewide, the number fell to 804 cases from 996— a decrease of 192 cases, which is a drop of 19.27%.
That’s the second consecutive week the number has been under 1,000.
Overall, cases have dropped 10 consecutive weeks statewide from 4,999 to 804, or 4,195 cases, which is a decrease of 83.91%.
The local communities covered are: Attleboro, Foxboro, Mansfield, Norfolk, North Attleboro, Norton, Plainville, Rehoboth, Seekonk and Wrentham.
In Seekonk, there were zero cases.
There was only one case each in Norton, Plainville, Rehoboth and Wrentham.
There were 400 coronavirus tests administered in the 10 communities, with 27 positives, which is a percentage of 6.75%, or 2.77 points higher than last week. That’s a decrease of 27 tests, or 6.32%.
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.
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 50,677 cases. That’s 25.23% of the 200,793 population in the 10 communities covered by The Sun Chronicle.
Percentages of the disease in each community range from 23% to 29%, and the average is 24.63%
In the week ending March 16, the case counts in each of the 10 communities was as follows.
- Attleboro, 7
- Foxboro, 4
- Mansfield 4
- Norfolk, 3
- North Attleboro, 5
- Norton, 1
- Plainville, 1
- Rehoboth, 1
- Seekonk, 0
- Wrentham, 1
Statewide, the number was 804 confirmed cases with 212 probable cases for a total of 2,147,508 confirmed and probable cases since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.
The number of confirmed deaths statewide was 11, and the number or probable deaths was 0.
The number of confirmed deaths statewide since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 is 23,418 and the number of confirmed and probable deaths is 29,923.
A poll for the area was taken recently and the death total was 520. That’s a death rate of 1.02%.
Death totals per community covered by The Sun Chronicle are as follows:
- 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 the elderly.
According to the state’s Department of Public Health, most deaths occur in people at or over the age of 65.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospital admissions for coronavirus are down 24.8% as of March 9 in Massachusetts.
And the number of coronavirus patients is 3 per 100,000.
