Worcester County has surpassed 2,000 coronavirus deaths in a somber milestone less than a year after the pandemic first hit the region.
The 2,000th death was recorded in the same week the United States hit its own bleak mark: 500,000 deaths. The city of Worcester surpassed 400 deaths.
Those numbers come as cases continue a sharp fall nationally and across Massachusetts, though less so in Worcester County. New cases were roughly flat in Worcester County in the past week through Thursday, coming as the region stands out from other Massachusetts counties for unusually high number of cases linked to a variant first found in the United Kingdom believed to be both more contagious and possibly more deadly.
Gov. Charlie Baker and other top state officials didn’t highlight the variant in a press conference Thursday in which they announced the state will move into a more relaxed phase of restrictions starting March 22 to allow for concerns, sporting events and other gatherings with higher numbers of people allowed.
Dr. Michael Hirsh, the medical director of the Worcester Division of Public Health, said updated case numbers of the British variant aren’t known for Worcester County because few tests are available to track the variant. Estimates have determined the variant doubles roughly eight days, however, he said, coming about a week and a half after state officials said Worcester County had 17 such cases.
“The suspicion is that a lot is in the community,” Hirsh said.
Unknown elements include whether the variant will spread as aggressively in Worcester County as in other areas, Hirsh said, or whether the spread of that or other variants could outpace the region’s ability to quickly vaccinate more residents.
New cases in Worcester County in the past week totaled 1,251, according to new data by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. That’s a fraction of the rate of new cases from December or January but less than a 2% drop from the week prior. The city of Worcester saw a more slight decline than Massachusetts, with 304 new cases a drop of 7% from a week ago.
Worcester County now has a total of 64,839 cases since the pandemic began, and the city of Worcester 20,531.
Across Massachusetts, cases in the past week rose by 10,797, less than one-quarter of the rate of new cases seen in the early-winter peak and a drop of less than 7% from a week prior. The state now has 545,624 total cases and 15,657 deaths since the pandemic began.
As for deaths, Worcester County had 40 newly reported deaths in the past week, bringing the total to 2,024. The city of Worcester had eight new deaths to reach 407, and the state had 284 new deaths to reach 15,657.
Worcester’s two health systems, Saint Vincent Hospital and UMass Memorial Health Care, have a combined 68 inpatient coronavirus cases as of Thursday, down 11 from a week prior. Intensive-care cases were down by nine to 21.
Vaccination efforts in the city continue to grow. Worcester’s health department has given about 8,500 doses, including 2,200 in the past week, according to City Manager Edward Augustus. A large-scale vaccination site at Worcester State University has been giving about 700 doses daily.
