By Globe Staff,Updated March 8, 2020,
The number of coronavirus cases reported by Massachusetts health officials grew to 28 Sunday, more than double the number reported a day earlier, state health officials said.
All 15 of the new cases reported Sunday were tied to a late February meeting of top managers of biotech giant Biogen at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf hotel, which drew about 175 participants, according to a statement from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health released Sunday afternoon.
On Saturday, Massachusetts public health officials reported a total of 13 cases of Covid-19, the illness caused by the worldwide outbreak of coronavirus that began in China late last year.
Of the 28 total cases reported by state health officials, 27 were tested by the state lab and need confirmation by the US Centers for Disease Control; one has been confirmed by the CDC.
Twenty-three of the state’s cases are associated with the Biogen meeting, according to health officials.
On Saturday, Massachusetts health officials disclosed five new cases of Covid-19, including a Berkshire county man in his 60s who was hospitalized at Berkshire Medical Center. He remained in stable condition Sunday afternoon, a hospital spokesman said.
In Indiana, health authorities in that state Sunday linked two cases of Covid-19 to the Biogen meeting as well.
John Hilliard can be reached at john.hilliard@globe.com.