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Home > COVID-19 Information > News > Changes to the City of Cambridge COVID-19 Data Center related to Active and Suspect Cases

Changes to the City of Cambridge COVID-19 Data Center related to Active and Suspect Cases

caution sign The information on this page may be outdated as it was published 3 years ago.

After discussions with the Cambridge Public Health Department, and to better align with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's case count reporting methods, two changes were made to the City of Cambridge COVID-19 Data Center on June 9, 2021.
 
Active Cases: As of the June 9, 2021 update at 4 p.m., cases that had been in the “Active Case” category for over 30 days were moved to the “Unknown Outcome” category since these individuals are no longer infectious. If the case meets the criteria for “Recovered” at a later date,  it will be moved to the “Recovered” category. This change has reduced the "Active Case" count today by 203 people.
 
Suspect Cases: As of the June 9, 2021 update at 4 p.m., all suspect (antibody positive) cases have been removed from the Cambridge case totals going back to the start of the pandemic. This change has reduced the City’s cumulative case total by 228 cases.
 
With the advent of the COVID-19 vaccines in January 2021, it has become challenging to distinguish antibody-positive cases that are past COVID-19 cases from those of vaccinated people who received a positive antibody test but never had the disease. The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) has not fully determined whether or not all antibody tests would show someone as positive following vaccination. This change aligns with MDPH’s decision last year to exclude suspect cases from its case counts for the state and municipalities.
 
The suspect (antibody positive) case count through December 31, 2020 is noted in the Data Center’s “Case Count by Classification” narrative.
 
You can view the City's COVID-19 Data Center here.
Page was posted on 6/9/2021 4:21 PM
Page was last modified on 7/25/2023 12:31 AM
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