WESTFIELD — The Health Department reported 29 new COVID-19 cases this week, as infection rates rise across the country.
Westfield’s pandemic total for infections now stands at 3,154.
The Aug. 4 report showed zero new COVID-19 related deaths in Westfield this week. There has not been a single reported COVID-19 related death in Westfield in several months, even as the infection rate slowly rises. The pandemic death toll in Westfield has remained at 113.
This week’s report was also the first in which the Health Department included vaccination data and number of individual households with active infections in them. The report showed that there were 40 individuals in Westfield with an active COVID-19 infection as of Aug. 4. Those 40 individuals were spread across 33 households, meaning that in at least a few cases, multiple people were infected within single households.
Of the 29 new cases this week, 23 were among unvaccinated individuals. The other six cases were in vaccinated persons.
Also new to this week’s report is a section in which Health Director Joseph Rouse explains what the numbers mean and where Westfield is in the pandemic. This week’s notes were simply an explanation of what new information is being reported and what additional information will be reported in the future.
Rouse said that in addition to vaccination status and the number of affected households, future weekly reports will include the number of COVID-19 related hospitalizations, and how many of the new infections are related to travel.
