The state reported 60 new COVID-19 cases in Harvard for the week ending Jan. 8, bringing the town’s cumulative number of confirmed cases to 436. For the week beginning Jan. 10, the Harvard Public Schools reported 46 students absent with COVID-19, 21 students in quarantine, and 10 staff members who were either in quarantine or had contracted the virus. There was no testing the week of Jan. 17 due to the Monday holiday.
According to the state’s weekly vaccination report, 4,581 residents in Harvard were fully vaccinated as of Jan. 11, up 25 from Jan. 4. Another 547 had received one dose of a two-dose vaccine, and 2,727 residents had received a booster dose, an increase of 199 since Jan. 4. Using the town clerk’s Nov. 8 population data, the percentage of Harvard residents eligible for the vaccine (5 and older) and fully vaccinated as of Jan. 11 is 85%, and the partially vaccinated percentage is 10%. These numbers do not include Devens residents or inmates at its Federal Medical Center.
Statewide, between Jan. 11 and Jan. 18, confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 110,258, down from the previous week’s increase of 173,776. As of Jan. 18, 3,192 patients were hospitalized for COVID-19 statewide, up from 2,970 a week earlier; 466 patients were in ICUs, 14 more than the previous week. There were 222 COVID-related deaths between Jan. 11 and Jan. 18, down from 415 the previous week.
On Jan. 18 the Federal Bureau of Prisons website reported 22 cases among inmates at the Federal Medical Center in Devens, 17 fewer than the previous week, and 18 cases among staff, 6 fewer than the previous week. Since the pandemic began, 352 of the current inmates and 108 staff have recovered from COVID-19; 13 inmates died of the virus.
