Framingham Known Covid-19 Cases Jump Almost 50%

Weekly known new Covid-19 cases soared more than 48 percent in the most recent 14-day period compared to the same time a week ago, according to data released today by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Number of tests administered in the period were also up, but only by 8%.

The city had 208 known cases in the latest two-week period, compared with 140 in last week’s report. That’s a rate of 20 new cases per day per 100,000 population.

Test positivity rose to 2.75% vs 1.93%.

Hospitalization data are not available by community. But as cases rise across much of Massachusetts, statewide Covid hospitalizations are the highest they’ve been since early March. That plus staffing shortages and increases in numbers hospitalized for other reasons (possibly due to people postponing healthcare during last year’s surge) are combining to create capacity issues; some hospitals will begin cutting back non-urgent surgeries Monday.

Also unavailable: Data on how many residents are still suffering from the effects of long Covid. WBUR reported recently that studies estimate serious long-term complications among those who have caught the virus range anywhere of 5 to 50%.

83.5% of Framingham residents have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, according to state data. That number is likely to rise in the near future as recently eligible 5- to 11-year-olds get their first shots. The state DPH also reported that 71.7% of Framingham residents are fully vaxxed. (Fully vaccinated is still defined as one shot of J&J or two doses of an mRNA vaccine, even though guidance now is that anyone who received J&J should get a second shot and many who got Pfizer and Moderna should get a third dose).