March 26, 2021
Progress elusive as Worcester, state COVID cases rise
Photo | Grant Welker
UMass Chan Medical School and UMass Memorial Medical Center share a campus off Belmont and Plantation streets in Worcester.
By Grant Welker
Massachusetts moved into a new business reopening phase this week, a year after the coronavirus pandemic first hit the state. Cases are not following the state's hoped-for progress, however.
Coronavirus cases statewide rose in the week ending Thursday for the third straight week, according to new Massachusetts Department of Public Health data. The 12,163 new cases reported in the past week are up 35% from three weeks ago.
The city of Worcester is in a troubling trend mirroring what's happening statewide. City cases have also risen for three straight weeks, and the 351 new weekly cases the city announced Thursday are up 34% from three weeks prior.
Those worrisome numbers come as a more contagious coronavirus variant first detected in the United Kingdom continues its spread. Massachusetts had 441 cases of that variant as of Thursday, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That comes just over two months after the first case of the strain was reported in the state.
The first Massachusetts case of another variant, one that originated in Brazil, was reported by the state DPH on March 16. The state now has 16 cases of that variant, according to the CDC, along with nine cases of a variant originated in South Africa.
Nonetheless, Massachusetts continues with a business reopening plan that as of March 22 allows sporting events to open to crowds for the first time since the pandemic began, at 12% of typical capacities. Gathering limits for event venues were also increased to 100 people indoors and 150 people outdoors.
Worcester County has shown slightly better case trends but also remains generally flat. DPH reported 1,158 new weekly cases in Worcester County on Thursday, bringing the county's total to 69,278. The statewide total is 586,298. Worcester's is 21,700 since the pandemic began.
Deaths have also generally plateaued. Worcester County had 32 newly reported deaths in the past week, with a total now at 2,133. The statewide total rose by 245 to hit 16,671. Worcester reported one death in the past week, for a total of 414.
City hospitalizations, while low, reflect the relative lack of progress in lowering case and death levels. UMass Memorial Health Care and Saint Vincent Hospital have a combined total of 51 COVID-positive in-patient cases, up one from the prior week, and 17 intensive-care patients, an increase of three from last week, according to the city.
More promising numbers have come with vaccinations. More than 3.1 million doses have been administered statewide as of Thursday, including more than 1.1 million who've received both necessary doses for those that require two shots. In Worcester County, 26% of residents have received at least one dose, and 14% are fully vaccinated through Thursday.
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