Fall River records its 40th death due to coronavirus

FALL RIVER -- The city has 1,335 confirmed cases of COVID-19, and the number of resident who have died from the coronavirus has reached 40, Mayor Paul Coogan announced in a press release.

"Regretfully, we were notified of our 40th fatality," Coogan stated in the release.

On Monday, the Mass. Department of Public Health began reporting both confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases and deaths. The change will increase the number of cases and deaths reported in Massachusetts.

Monday’s newly reported totals, which show a large increase in cases, are a result of a retrospective review of probable cases and deaths dating back to March 1.

Probable cases are individuals who have not been tested by the standard viral (molecular) test. They have either had a positive antibody test and either had COVID symptoms or were likely to be exposed to a positive case, or did not have an antibody test but had COVID symptoms and were known to be exposed to a positive case. Probable cases also include individuals whose death certificate listed COVID-19 as a cause of death but who were not tested.

Also included is data on the total number daily and cumulative COVID-19 antibody tests performed. Antibody tests are blood tests used to determine if a person had COVID-19 in the past and now has antibodies against the virus. Molecular, or viral, testing, which is performed by nasal swab, is conducted to determine if an individual is currently infected with COVID-19. Since the beginning of the pandemic, DPH has reported on the number of confirmed cases and deaths that had a POSITIVE COVID-19 molecular test result.

With that criteria in mind, on Monday Massachusetts crossed the 100,000-mark in terms of total COVID-19 cases, with 3,840 new cases reported. The total number of deaths in Massachusetts stands at 7,035, with 189 new deaths reported on Monday.

There now have been 7,348 COVID-19 cases reported in Bristol County.

As of Monday there were 1,747 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, a drop of 77 patients from Sunday.

The number of Massachusetts hospitals using surge capacity stood at 7 on Monday. Four weeks ago that number stood at 21.