COVID-19 trends in Massachusetts and in Cambridge have been moving in the right direction since the peak of the Omicron surge in January. Recently, Cambridge has seen a small uptick in COVID-19 cases. A review of these cases indicates that this uptick is attributable to cases affiliated with institutions of higher education in the city. While cases in the community have been decreasing steadily, higher ed cases have been increasing. From Monday - Wednesday of this week, for example, of the cases reported to the Cambridge Public Health Department (CPHD), only 18% were cases in the broader community, with the other 82% of cases being reported by the universities in Cambridge. CPHD and the City are working with our university and other community partners to continue monitoring trends.
Cambridge saw the peak in positive cases on January 8, 2022, and regional hospitalizations peaked in mid-January. Since then, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have decreased dramatically, as have viral loads in wastewater. Over the past few weeks, hospitalizations dropped by more than half in Massachusetts with significant declines in hospitalizations across all age groups. With fewer people seriously ill with COVID, the pressure on our health care systems is finally easing.