While the Three Rivers Health District moved to Phase 1b of the COVID-19 vaccination program on Tuesday, offering some hope of relief from the pandemic, the post-holiday surge in cases and deaths continued locally.
In Gloucester, six people died of the virus during the past week, for a total of 18 people in the county who have lost their lives to COVID since the pandemic began. Mathews saw one additional death, for a total of five, while two Middlesex residents died during the past week, for a total of 15.
Gloucester’s case count once again rose significantly, as well, with 151 new cases diagnosed, for a cumulative total of 1,278 cases since March, or 3.4 percent of the population. In Mathews, 19 new cases were added, for a total of 390 cases, or 4.4 percent of the population, while Middlesex added 39 new cases, for a total of 360, or 3.4 percent of the population (Population figures are from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey).
Hospitalizations locally remained steady,...