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Updated: December 17, 2020

Worcester County COVID cases set another high mark, near 34K

Photo | Grant Welker Healthcare workers are fitted for masks before the opening of the coronavirus field hospital at the DCU Center in Worcester.
By Grant Welker

New COVID-19 cases in Worcester County set another weekly record on Thursday, surpassing 4,000 for the second straight time.

Worcester County now has nearly 34,000 cases since the pandemic began, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, with nearly half of those cases taking place in the past six weeks.

Across Massachusetts, cases in the past week nearly reached the record set just a week prior, with nearly 33,000 new cases. The state now has 292,316 total cases since March.

The state's 14-day rate of new cases, a key metric used by the DPH, continues to climb. It stood at 65.1 per 100,000 on Thursday, a rise from 50 a week prior. In Central Massachusetts, 18 cities and towns exceed the state average.

The City of Worcester, which normally releases its weekly data on Thursday afternoons, will instead do so on Friday because of a snowstorm.

Deaths haven't risen to nearly the same rates as during the state's spring peak, even as deaths have hit all-time highs nationally, including more than 3,600 on Wednesday. New deaths in the past week in Worcester County totaled 41, a slight drop from the previous week, with a total that now stands at 1,384 since the pandemic began. Massachusetts has recorded 349 new deaths in the past week, with a new total of 11,558.

Nationally, cases have roughly plateaued at an all-time high, according to the website COVID Tracking Project. Nine times in December, including on Wednesday, new daily cases surpassed 230,000. Hospitalizations have also risen to all-time highs at more than 113,000 on Wednesday, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

American deaths were nearing 310,000 on Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, with cases at more than 17 million. Worldwide, deaths stand at more than 1.6 million with nearly 75 million cases.
 

A note on the coronavirus figures

State, Worcester County and City of Worcester cases and deaths are weekly as of each Thursday. State and Worcester County numbers were previously as of each Wednesday until late October. Worcester County's case total included confirmed and suspected cases through Aug. 12, after which it includes only confirmed cases. Worcester County's death total was revised downward by four on June 30, and is an estimate based on state-reported totals through early August, and estimated numbers from that point forward based on most recent two-week reporting. The City of Worcester retroactively added cases on June 4. State and county data is according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and Worcester data is according to the City of Worcester. Testing data may be irregular around Thanksgiving, including a six-day reporting period by the city beforehand and an eight-day period afterward.

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