NEWBURYPORT -- Newburyport public schools announced a two-hour delay for the start of school on Monday because of concerns about the coronavirus and plans for testing.

In a week that saw COVID infections in Massachusetts top 1 million, the latest data from public health officials showed a sharp rise in infections in Newburyport and Amesbury, prompting officials in both cities to issue mask mandates on Thursday.

SEPT. 2 -- Public health officials on Thursday reported 1,593 new cases of COVID-19 in Massachusetts and 14 new deaths linked to confirmed cases, while the seven-day positive test rate inched downward from 2.46 percent to 2.45 percent.

AUG. 19 -- The cumulative number of COVID-19 cases identified in Massachusetts since February 2020 is inching towards 700,000, hitting 693,093 with Thursday's Department of Public Health report of 1,373 new cases.

AUG. 10, 2021 – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's mask guidance based on local transmission levels now recommends people wear face-coverings indoors in all but one Massachusetts county, and from UMass Amherst to Belmont, mask requirements are once again going into place.

JUNE 25 – The COVID-19 state of emergency in Massachusetts has been over for more than a week, but researchers and medical professionals continue to learn more about the virus that has so far infected at least 663,478 people here.

JUNE 15 – After 462 days, the COVID-19 state of emergency ended Tuesday in Massachusetts with a double-digit increase to the state's total coronavirus caseload, a new vaccine milestone surpassed, and the question of what role pandemic policy adaptations will continue to play still unsettled.

JUNE 10 -- The end of the state of emergency is around the corner, but a series of COVID-era policies including remote public meetings and to-go cocktails are a step closer to remaining in effect.

JUNE 8 -- One week from Tuesday, the COVID-19 state of emergency that Gov. Charlie Baker declared on March 10, 2020 will terminate.

JUNE 3 -- For the first time since it was introduced last August, the Department of Public Health's color-coded COVID-19 risk assessment map includes zero communities in the red, high-risk category.

MAY 26 -- Massachusetts surpassed yet another major milestone in its path through the pandemic: as of Wednesday, just more than half of the state's entire population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

MAY 20 – Massachusetts surpassed the 3.3 million mark on Thursday for residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as the Bay State continues to look ahead to a full reopening just more than one week away.

MAY 18 – As bills to create a paid COVID-19 emergency sick leave program and give businesses relief from unexpectedly higher costs related to unemployment insurance advanced on Tuesday, the Department of Public Health reported 359 new cases of COVID-19 and six new deaths associated with the …

Having taken the weekend to consider the latest federal guidance that dramatically loosened coronavirus restrictions for vaccinated people, Gov. Charlie Baker plans to give an update on the reopening process for Massachusetts late Monday morning.

MAY 10 -- Massachusetts added 446 new cases of COVID-19 and 14 new deaths linked to the respiratory disease to its totals on Monday, bringing the state's cumulative case load since February 2020 to 653,636.

MAY 7 -- Massachusetts heads into the weekend again on the precipice of another change in its COVID-19 response.

MAY 6 – The number of cities and towns the Department of Public Health considers to be at the highest risk for COVID-19 transmission was cut in half over the last week and now just 13 communities remain "in the red," DPH reported Thursday.

APRIL 23 -- The vaccination campaign in Massachusetts caught the attention of a top White House official on Friday, who pointed to the Bay State and a handful of others as examples of some of the highest vaccination rates in the country.

APRIL 20 -- There were 968 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed Tuesday in Massachusetts, the first day in more than a month with fewer than 1,000 new cases.

APRIL 14 -- Almost 40 percent of the new COVID-19 cases recorded in Massachusetts in the past two weeks were among people in their 20s and 30s, according to Department of Public Health data updated Wednesday.

APRIL 7 -- Massachusetts crossed another grim mile-marker in the COVID-19 pandemic Wednesday as the number of deaths among people with test-confirmed cases of the respiratory disease surpassed 17,000.

APRIL 2 -- The Department of Public Health confirmed 2,160 new cases of COVID-19 and announced 32 recent deaths as the number of people hospitalized and the state's seven-day average positivity rate both inched up Friday.

APRIL 1 -- More than 600,000 people in Massachusetts have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past 14 months, another marker crossed Thursday as the Department of Public Health reported 2,455 new confirmed cases.

The Department of Public Health's projection of active COVID-19 cases crept above 30,000 on Sunday, reflecting the increase in new cases in Massachusetts that has drawn attention from health experts.

WORCESTER -- Becker College, a 1,700-student school whose budgetary challenges were exacerbated by the COVID-19 crisis, will close at the end of this academic year, its trustees announced Monday.

MARCH 19 -- While Massachusetts gears up to take several major steps in its fight against COVID-19 next week, the average positive test rate inched back up above 2 percent on Friday for the first time in nearly a month.