Massachusetts sees a spike in coronavirus testing, expected to rise significantly

Katie Lannan
State House News Service

The number of COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts shot up above 1,000 for the first time on Tuesday in a dramatic increase over the previous day’s tally. New Department of Public Health figures shows 1,159 cases of the respiratory illness in the state, up from 777 on Monday for a 49 percent increase in one day. Eleven deaths are now attributed to the virus, up from nine on Monday.

Testing numbers also rose significantly. As of Tuesday, 13,749 patients had been tested, or 4,827 more than Monday. At a Tuesday press conference, Gov. Charlie Baker said the state has made “big progress” in expanding testing capacity over the last week, and advised that case numbers are expected to go up as testing increases.