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December 31, 2020

With slight case dip, Worcester County surpasses 40K COVID cases

Photo | Grant Welker UMass Memorial Health Care's HealthAlliance campus in Leominster

Worcester County will end the year with a slight dip in weekly COVID-19 cases but having surpassed 40,000 coronavirus cases.

Cases in Central Massachusetts and across the state have taken a minor dip from record highs earlier in December, but there are signs that a post-Christmas bump in cases may be starting, as public health officials had warned.

[Related: Worcester sets new single-day COVID record at 335 on Wednesday]

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported 6,887 new cases on Thursday, among the highest in any single day yet, and coming one day after the city of Worcester set its own record with 335 new cases in one day.

Image | WBJ Source: City of Worcester
Coronavirus case levels have remained at far higher levels since Thanksgiving. The city typically reports weekly numbers on Thursdays, but recent weeks have varied because of the Dec. 17 snowstorm and New Year's Eve.

Among other worrying indicators, hospitalizations continue to rise, standing at a seven-day average of 2,192 as of Thursday. Test positivity rate is now at 8.6%, up from under 2% until the start of November, when cases statewide began their rapid ascent toward record highs.

With 3,725 new cases in the past week, Worcester County set its fourth-highest seven-day total and hit 41,640 since the pandemic began, according to the DPH. Statewide, cases rose by 29,906 to hit 352,558. That's also the state's fourth highest week yet during the pandemic.

As for deaths, Worcester County had a reported 75 new deaths, its highest weekly total since the spring, to hit 1,448. Across Massachusetts, 451 new deaths brings the statewide total to 12,157.

Among Central Massachusetts cities and towns, 19 are above state average in the new case rate in the past two weeks. That average fell slightly to 58.3 per 100,000 on Thursday.

Nationwide, cases have likewise dipped slightly since Christmas from all-time highs just before the holiday but remain regularly at more than 200,000 new cases a day. The United States has reported 19.9 million cases and 344,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University in Maryland. Worldwide, cases stand at 83.2 million and 1.8 million deaths.
 

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. Weekly testing periods varied between six- and eight-day ranges for some weeks, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.

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