Image | WBJ Source: Massachusetts Department of Public Health
April 27, 2020
Worcester area 21st worst for coronavirus death rate
Photo | Grant Welker
A sign on I-290 in Worcester advises people coming into Massachusetts to qurantine themselves to slow the spread of coronavirus.
By Grant Welker
The Worcester metropolitan area has the nation's 21st worst rate of coronavirus deaths and 23rd worst rate for cases, according to a national analysis of data from the past two weeks.
The area's death count of 160 in the last two weeks, placing it among the worst roughly 5 percentile of regions, according to a New York Times database of more than 500 metropolitan and micropolitan areas.
In a slightly longer period, the last four weeks, the region surpasses many far larger regions — and not just on a per-capita basis — including some of the most populous in the country: San Francisco, Dallas, Houston, San Diego, Kansas City, Nashville and Milwaukee, among many others.
Worcester County's overall death total surpassed 200 on Sunday, hitting 206, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Connecticut's Windham County, which makes up the rest of the Worcester metro area, has three deaths, according to the Connecticut Department of Public Health.
Massachusetts and Worcester city have put in a number of measures in an effort to stem the spread of the coronavirus and maximize treatment capabilities for those who contract the disease. Those efforts include closing non-essential businesses and schools, requiring customer-facing essential businesses to provide masks for their employees, and opening up a field hospital in the DCU Center in Worcester to deal with non-critical coronavirus cases.
Total coronavirus cases in the Worcester area is also disproportionately high. The area's count in the last two weeks gives the Worcester metro area the 23rd worst rate nationally. The Times counted the Worcester region as reporting 2,631 cases in the last two weeks, or 2.78 per 1,000 people.
Throughout the pandemic, Worcester County has had 4,572 coronavirus cases as of Sunday. Windham County has 157.
The Worcester metro area has also reported more cases in the past four weeks than some far larger regions, including Phoenix; Portland, Ore.; Minneapolis; Tampa Bay; Charlotte; and Pittsburgh, according to the Times.
Among other rankings in the past two weeks, the Worcester area is 26th worst for the highest average daily growth rate of deaths, which have doubled every 6.3 days, and 36th worst for the highest average daily growth rate of cases, which have doubled every 9.5 days.
Beyond Massachusetts — which has the country's third most cases, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — cases have generally remained far lower outside hot spots such as New York City, Detroit and New Orleans.
Compared to the rest of Massachusetts, Worcester County doesn't look so bad. Worcester County has the seventh highest death total among the state's 14 counties, and eighth highest by death rate.
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