November 19, 2020
Worcester County coronavirus cases reach all-time weekly high: 2,151
Photo | Grant Welker
A line for coronavirus testing at the Mercantile Center in Worcester
By Grant Welker
In the last seven days, Worcester County and the state of Massachusetts have recorded their highest weekly totals of coronavirus cases, indicating how quickly the pandemic has returned after a summer lull.
The City of Worcester has also seen an all-time high in the past week, with 667 cases in the past week, according to the city. That total comes with a caveat: weekly totals during the spring peak of the pandemic didn't include what ended up being a backlog of cases reported later.
Nonetheless, the city has seen a major spike, City Manager Edward Augustus said outside City Hall Thursday afternoon. On one day alone this week, the city had 127 new cases, he said. In total, the city has had a reported 8,565 cases sine the pandemic began.
Worcester County's 2,151 new cases in the past seven days ending Thursday, as reported by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, brings the county's total to 21,246. Worcester County surpassed the 20,000-case mark on Saturday, the fourth Massachusetts county to do so. The others are Middlesex, Suffolk and Essex counties, which all include Boston and its northern and western suburbs.
The nation also hit a dark milestone this week: 250,000 deaths. Johns Hopkins University in Maryland has tallied nearly 252,000 deaths through late Thursday, along with nearly 11.7 million American cases.
Confirmed cases in Massachusetts have risen in the past week by an all-time of 17,097 to hit 192,050.
[Related: Worcester County COVID testing triples since summer, but positivity rises, too]
Deaths in Worcester County rose in the past week by 20 to 1,228. Deaths across the state rose by 193 to 10,435.
Augustus was emphatic in asking people planning Thanksgiving gatherings not to do so.
"I want to be clear. We're asking folks to stay home," he said. "This is not the year to stick with traditions."
Positivity rates among tests in Worcester are at about 15%, up by about half in the past week, according to Dr. Michael Hirsh, the city's medical director.
The spike in cases in and around Worcester in the past month has forced action from hospitals, colleges and others.
UMass Memorial Health Care is working with state officials to set up a field hospital with roughly 200 beds at the DCU Center to care for less-severe coronavirus patients, as was done during the spring surge. The center is expected to open in the first week of December. In the past three weeks, the number of coronavirus patients in intensive care has risen threefold at the UMass Memorial and Saint Vincent hospital systems, Augustus said.
Across the city, 65 college students tested positive this week, according to the city. A rising number of restaurant workers have also been testing positive, according to the city, spurring Worcester officials to plan a forum with retail workers to detail protocols to be followed to keep workers and the public safe. Another forum is planned for property managers.
Assumption University in Worcester locked down its campus for more than a week in late October and early November when cases rose, keeping students in their dorms except for any necessary trips. Worcester Polytechnic Institute did much the same starting Tuesday, a day after Clark University said it would hold all of its classes online through the rest of the fall semester, about a week earlier than planned. Students were advised to make plans to leave campus as soon as possible.
The Worcester Railers said Wednesday they won't play their upcoming hockey season after initially planning an altered schedule at the DCU Center starting in January.
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