February 5, 2021
Major improvement shown in Worcester County COVID-19 case trends
Photo | Grant Welker
The DCU Center field hospital in Worcester
By Grant Welker
New coronavirus cases have nosedived in the past week, offering a promising trend as numbers come down from all-time highs during the pandemic.
In the week ending Thursday, new Worcester County cases dropped to the lowest weekly number since early November, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. Trends were similar across Massachusetts, which reached numbers not seen since late November, and the city of Worcester had the lowest since late October and early November.
The new data Thursday came as Worcester city officials announced with partners, including Saint Vincent Hospital, that a gymnasium at Worcester State University will be used as a large-scale vaccination site starting Feb. 16, a milestone officials celebrated as important for helping to increase capacity to quickly immunize more of the public.
Worcester County had 2,090 new cases in the past week to reach 60,354 since the pandemic began. Across Massachusetts, 18,305 new cases bring the total to 507,166. The city of Worcester reported 492 new cases for a new total of 19,321.
Deaths are falling at a slower pace.
Worcester County had 62 deaths in the past week, a slight dip from the past few months yet still just under half of the peak hit last spring. Worcester County has counted 1,869 deaths in all. Across Massachusetts, deaths rose by 433 to 14,489, keeping pace with the previous week.
Worcester has recorded 15 new deaths to reach 382.
The city's two hospital systems, Saint Vincent Hospital and UMass Memorial Medical Center, had a combined 288 inpatient coronavirus cases as of Thursday, according to the city, down by 20 from a week prior. The number of intensive-care patients, 44, was down by four. A field hospital at Worcester's DCU Center had 39 patients.
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