Department of Public Health: COVID-19 cases jump to 164 in Massachusetts

Overnight, Massachusetts saw a jump of 26 total cases of COVID-19 according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

The number of presumptive positive cases were expected to rise, at least in part, as a result of increased testing.

As of 10:45 a.m. Sunday, March 15th, 799 patients had been tested by the Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory, up from the 475 people tested that Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders shared at the March 14th press conference.

The Department of Public Health has implemented the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s updated guidance on clinical testing protocols, which means clinicians are required to only submit one nasal swab, rather than the previous requirement to submit both nasal and throat swabs. With this change in clinical testing protocols, the State Lab’s testing capacity will increase to approximately 400 patients a day, up from 200 patients a day.

In addition, in Massachusetts, clinicians now have more flexibility to determine which patients should be tested without having to call DPH’s Epi Line.

With national labs now being approved by the FDA to conduct testing, clinicians can submit specimens for testing directly to these labs. This change will enable more people to be tested and for more tests to be conducted. With more clinical labs in Massachusetts working to get FDA approval, even more testing capacity will be coming online soon.

On March 10, Governor Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency, giving the Administration more flexibility to respond to the outbreak.

On March 13, Governor Baker issued an emergency order prohibiting most gatherings of over 250 people in the Commonwealth.