Worcester County's coronavirus case rate in top 10% nationally
Photo | Grant Welker
Downtown Worcester in the middle of a weekday during the coronavirus shut down
Worcester County's rate of confirmed coronavirus cases is among the top 10% of all counties nationally, and its death rate is in the top 11%.
According to the latest figures as of the start of the day Wednesday, Worcester County's coronavirus case rate per 100,000 people is 53. That's 225th out of 2,181 counties nationally, according to a Worcester Business Journal analysis of nationwide data reported by The New York Times. The region's total number of cases is in the top 3%, a ranking skewed by Worcester County's relatively high population count.
Worcester County's 433 cases as of the start of the day Wednesday doesn't compare to New York, Boston or other cities that have seen especially high cases, such as New Orleans.
The death rate is essentially the same: in the top 11%.
Both sets of numbers show how Worcester County, with more than 830,000 people, has been relatively close behind some of the most well-known cases in large cities or just beyond them. Suffolk County, for example, which includes Boston, has had 173 cases per 100,000 residents, good for 14th highest nationally. Middlesex County, which includes much of MetroWest as well as Cambridge and Lowell, has 84 cases per 100,000, landing it 30th nationally.
[Related: UMass Memorial CEO: Hospitalized COVID-19 patients doubling every 3-4 days]
Essex County north of Boston and Norfolk County, which includes much of Boston's southern suburbs, both had rates exceeding 100 cases per 100,000 people, as did Berkshire County on the western edge of the state.
Testing for coronavirus has been inconsistent nationally, which could be a cause of the higher numbers in Massachusetts as well. The state had the fifth-highest rate of coronavirus testing per capita through March 27, according to new data published by the COVID Tracking Project and The New York Times.
Health experts have said widespread testing is key to better gauging how much coronavirus has spread in an area and to be able to keep those who've tested positive in quarantine or receive proper medical care.
Worcester County had seven deaths reported deaths through early Wednesday, or 0.9 per 100,000 people. That's virtually the same as the state's most populous counties that have the highest overall number of cases: Suffolk County's rate was also 0.9, and Middlesex County's was 1.1.
Strictly on the number of deaths, Worcester County is in the top 3%.
[Related: UMass Memorial looking for nursing students to help at DCU Center field hospital]
Massachusetts has been among the hardest-hit states so far, landing sixth nationally for total cases through Tuesday's totals, according to The New York Times. On a per-person basis, Worcester County lands 11th of 14 Massachusetts counties, and is roughly half the statewide rate. Rates are high both in high-population counties as well as places like Barnstable, Berkshire and Franklin counties, which have relatively smaller populations.
Such numbers are projected to increase rapidly in the weeks ahead, with a forecast peak in the number of Massachusetts cases of April 7-17, according to researchers at the University of Washington.
The Worcester area is gearing up for a rush of cases. The DCU Center is being set up as a 250-bed field hospital for less-severe coronavirus patients as one of three such centers planned across the state. The effort is being led by UMass Memorial Health Care in partnership with Saint Vincent Hospital and city and state officials to free up intensive care unit space at the hospitals.
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