The state reported 16 new COVID-19 cases in Harvard for the week ending May 14, eight fewer than was reported the previous week, bringing the town’s cumulative number of state-reported cases since the pandemic began to 651. For the week beginning May 23, Harvard Public Schools reported 8 students out with COVID-19, 24 fewer than last week. Five staff members were out with COVID-19, five fewer than last week.
Between May 17 and May 23, the state reported 23,162 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, down from 28,440 new cases the previous week. On May 23, there were 835 hospitalizations reported, 32 more than a week earlier, and the number of ICU patients increased from 78 to 79 during the week ending May 23. The state reported 72 deaths during that same week, one more than the previous week.
The percentage of the 5,373 Harvard residents eligible for the vaccine (5 and older) and fully vaccinated as of May 17 remained at 86.6%, the partially vaccinated percentage remained at 9.3%, and the total number of residents with at least one booster remained at 3,168. Vaccination numbers in the state report for Harvard do not include Devens residents or inmates at its Federal Medical Center.
On May 24 the Federal Bureau of Prisons website reported no new COVID-19 cases among inmates at the Federal Medical Center in Devens for the fourth week in a row. There were six cases among staff, four more than the previous week. Since the pandemic began, 376 of the current inmates and 194 staff have recovered from COVID-19; 13 inmates died of the virus.
Note that case numbers reported by the state do not include people who tested positive only with an at-home test.
