More than halfway through March, one aspect of the coronavirus pandemic story isn’t really changing: cases remain stubbornly high as public safety protocols are loosened.
New coronavirus cases rose slightly across Massachusetts in the week ending Thursday, and they fell only very slightly in Worcester and Worcester County, according to new data from the city and the state Department of Public Health. The latest data comes days before the latest stage in the state’s reopening plan continues Monday, when public facilities such as sports stadiums can begin hosting crowds.
Worcester County had 1,038 new cases, the fourth straight week in which cases have been roughly flat. The county now has a total of 68,120 cases since the pandemic began.
The city of Worcester had 274 new weekly cases reported Thursday, with cases roughly plateauing throughout the month. The city has reported 21,349 cases in total.
Across Massachusetts, new cases in the last week rose from the prior week, the second straight time that’s happened. The state’s 10,152 new cases reported in the past week on Thursday bring the Massachusetts total to 574,135. Massachusetts has the nation’s seventh highest rate in new cases in the past seven days, according to a New York Times tally.
Those trends in new cases generally mirror what’s taking place nationally: Cases quickly fell from all-time highs in January but have inched down only relatively slightly in the past month. The country has nearly 30 million cases and nearly 540,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.
Deaths locally have continued a more promising decline. Worcester had no new reported deaths in the past week, keeping its total at 413. Worcester County’s death total rose by 24 to 2,101 since the pandemic began, and the state’s total grew by 208 to 16,426.
Vaccinations continue to quicken in pace, with more than 2.7 million vaccines given statewide, and nearly 1 million having received both necessary doses, according to the Department of Public Health. DPH says 22% of Worcester County residents have received a first dose, and 12% are fully vaccinated.
