Older patients may be more vulnerable to the effects of the coronavirus-caused COVID-19 illness if they contract it, but Massachusetts public health officials have not detected higher rates of infections among them.

On Sunday, the state began publishing cases by age group in its daily update, and the figures show that fewer older residents have tested positive compared to middle-aged adults so far. Those aged 60 to 69 had 87 cases, or 13.5 percent of the state's total, while adults 70 and older made up 83 confirmed cases, or 12.8 percent of the total.

The age group with the most number of cases was 40 to 49 years old, which had 134 positive tests or about 20.7 percent of the total. Children and teenagers had the lowest number of positive COVID-19 tests through Sunday: according to the Department of Public Health, only 18 of the 646 cases were those 19 and younger.