Gov. Charlie Baker at a State House press conference. (Pool photo by Sam Doran of State House News Service)

GOV. CHARLIE BAKER slightly loosened capacity restrictions at restaurants, retailers, and gyms on
Thursday as the state’s weekly COVID-19 numbers continued to retreat from the highs of recent weeks.

Vaccinations increased, but the numbers didn’t seem to mesh with figures released by the governor on Wednesday. . The state’s weekly vaccination report indicated 681,472 shots have been administered so far, including 149,030 over the last seven days. The report said 896,300 doses had been shipped to Massachusetts. On Wednesday, however, Baker said 654,104 doses had been administered so far out of 1 million shipped.

The number of high-risk communities, designated in red on the state’s color-coded map, fell to 153, down from 192 a week ago and 222 two weeks ago. None of the red communities reported more than 100 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 people over the last two weeks, the first time that has happened in more than a month.

The state as a whole reported 48.9 cases per 100,000 people over the last two weeks, down from 59.4 cases last week. The state’s positive test rate (positive tests divided by total tests), dropped from 5.51 percent a week ago to 4.32 percent this week.

Gardner and Orleans were the two communities with the highest case numbers – 96.7 cases per 100,000 people and 96.6 cases per 100,000, respectively. Chelsea had 92.9 cases and Dedham 91, while Springfield had 81.8 and Lawrence 80.5. Boston moved from the red category to yellow, reporting 48.5 cases per 100,000 people.

Other COVID indicators are also improving. Hospitalizations are down 33 percent since early January and the seven-day average of new cases is down about 53 percent from the peak, Baker said at a State House press conference.

The positive trends prompted Baker to increase capacity limits at restaurants, retailers, movie theaters, casinos, offices, and places of worship from 25 percent to 40 percent starting Monday. The lower capacity limit was put in place on December 26 as COVID cases were spiraling upward.

The governor kept existing gathering limits in place – 10 for indoor gatherings and 25 for outdoor gatherings.

Bruce Mohl oversees the production of content and edits reports, along with carrying out his own reporting with a particular focus on transportation, energy, and climate issues. He previously worked...