City of Worcester reinstates indoor mask advisory following COVID-19 spike

Worcester city health officials issued an advisory on Friday strongly encouraging the use of masks indoors following a rise of COVID-19 cases in the region. 

According to the advisory, there were currently 72 people in the city hospitalized with the disease, and 11 were in critical condition. 

The city advised anybody who was not currently vaccinated against the virus to do so and those have to be up to date on vaccines and booster shots. 

Though COVID cases dropped to a year low on March 12, Worcester’s seven-day daily average of new positive COVID-19 cases has risen steadily the past eight weeks since to around 128.9 per day. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention has upgraded the community transmission level in Worcester County to high.

Despite the advisory, health officials noted they remained encouraged by the fact the most dominant strain of the virus in the country, a subvariant of Omicron, subsided relatively quickly following in other countries, such as the United Kingdom. 

Free COVID-19 vaccines and boosters continued to be offered at the Umass Memorial Health clinic, located at the Mercantile Center on 100 Front Street, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays  and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursdays. Shots are also available the Worcester Public Library on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., respectively.