UMass model sees cases continuing to climb into early January
By Martin Finucane Globe Staff,Updated December 15, 2020, 3:56 p.m.
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A person receiving a coronavirus test recently at a site in ChelseaJessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
The number of coronavirus cases reported in Massachusetts will continue to rise, then stabilize around early January, a model from the University of Massachusetts Amherst suggests.
The model says there were a total of 33,708 confirmed and probable cases in the week ending last Saturday. Case numbers are expected to rise in the following three weeks, reaching a weekly total of 41,954 on Saturday, Jan. 2, and remaining around 41,524 for the week ending Saturday, Jan. 9.
The coronavirus pandemic is making a comeback in Massachusetts.
Though the upcoming rollout of vaccines to protect people against the deadly disease offers a glimmer of hope, the initial amounts will be limited, and the winter months ahead are expected to be grim and harrowing, both in Massachusetts and nationally.
These seven charts paint a sobering picture of where we are in the current surge â and offer signs of where we might be heading.
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1. The number of cases reported per day
In this first chart, daily case totals reported by the state are shown since the beginning of the pandemic, along with seven-day averages. The chart shows a mountain of cases per day in the spring as a terrified state hunkered down at home, a decrease in cases to a low point around late June, and then a disturbing rise in cases again starting around late September.