The state reported seven new confirmed COVID-19 cases in Harvard for the week ending April 1, bringing the town’s cumulative number of confirmed cases since the pandemic began to 124. During the week of March 29, one elementary school student, one Bromfield School student, and one elementary school staff member tested positive for COVID-19. Five students or staff were in quarantine because of close contact with someone with the virus.
According to the state’s weekly town-by-town vaccination report, 1,050 Harvard residents were fully vaccinated as of March 30, and 933 were partially vaccinated (meaning they had received only the first dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine). It is unclear if these numbers include Devens residents or Federal Medical Center (FMC) Devens inmates. According to Town Clerk Marlene Kenney, Harvard’s population, including Devens residents but not FMC inmates, was 5,825 on March 2, based on voter registration numbers and the annual town census.
Statewide, during the week between March 30 and April 6, confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 13,608, down slightly from the previous week’s increase of 13,766. There were 185 COVID-19-related deaths during the week ending April 6, down from 230 last week. On April 6 the number of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 in the state was 725, up from 711 a week earlier. The number of COVID-19 patients in intensive care units decreased over that same week, from 172 to 169.
On April 6 the Bureau of Prisons website reported no active COVID-19 case among inmates or staff at the Federal Medical Center in Devens. The bureau also reported that 341 staff and 365 of the 731 current inmates were fully vaccinated as of April 6. Since the pandemic began, 379 of the current inmates were infected with COVID-19 and recovered, 63 staff have recovered, and 10 inmates have died.
Editor’s Note: The state is currently reporting percentages of people vaccinated by town, including age and race percentage breakdowns. The state uses federal census data for town and city populations; for Harvard, that data includes the last census count of the inmates at the Federal Medical Center in Devens. As a result, the state’s population number for the town of Harvard is about 1,100 too high, and its age and race numbers are off as well. Because the Boston Globe uses the state’s numbers to report vaccination rates for each town, its numbers for Harvard are not accurate.
