For Immediate Release: 1/14/2021 4:25 pm
The City of Worcester has released the following COVID-19 update:
To date, there have been 17,129 overall confirmed positive cases in Worcester. That is an increase of 1,219 cases since the City’s last COVID update on Thursday, Jan., 7.
There were 182 new cases today.
Positive case counts in surrounding towns: Shrewsbury: 2,008 (increase of 212); Holden: 965 (increase of 105); Grafton: 702 (increase of 81); Leicester: 700 (increase of 62).
UMass Memorial Health Care and Saint Vincent Hospital, as of Thursday, Jan. 14, have a combined total of 244 COVID-positive in-patients (decrease of 24) and 60 total COVID- positive ICU patients (increase of 1). To date, the combined facilities have had 542 COVID-related deaths (increase of 33). A total of 1,553 employees have tested positive for the virus (increase of 104). All changes are from last week’s report.
There have been 353 deaths of Worcester residents, an increase of 11 since last week.
There were 53 positive in-patients at the DCU Field Hospital as of today. Since reopening on Dec. 6, the Field Hospital has served 294 patients.
As of today, there are 35 active COVID-19 cases among City Employees that are isolating and 11 in quarantine.
CASES BY AGE
19-under: 2,381 (14%)
20-29: 3,118 (18%)
30-39: 2,901 (17%)
40-49: 2,455 (14%)
50-59: 2,444 (14%)
60-69: 1,745 (10%)
70-up: 1,911 (11%)
New cases in the 40-under age group continue to account for the majority of new cases (57%), with the most new cases in the 20-20 range, followed by those 19-under.
The City on Monday launched an Emergency Dispensing Site at the Worcester Senior Center. Staff and volunteers at the site are vaccinating Fire, Police, EMTs, Dispatchers and College Public Safety personnel in Worcester and the towns of Shrewsbury, Millbury, Leicester, Holden, Grafton and West Boylston, which are part of the Central Massachusetts Public Health Alliance. The site operated Monday-Wednesday, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m., and administered a total of 754 vaccinations. For First Responders and their Command Staff, between the Communications, Fire and Police departments a total of 433 individuals were vaccinated. That represents 45.4% of employees in those departments.
As part of efforts to keep the public informed during the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, the City is exploring partnerships with local media to hold Town Halls and reach as many people as possible. More information will be shared when it is available.
The City has also informed the State that it wishes to be a Super Dispensing Site to administer the vaccine as the rollout moves into subsequent phases. More information on that will be released when available.
The UMass Memorial Health Care COVID-19 Equity Task Force and the City of Worcester jointly sponsor free, walk-up COVID-19 testing. Below are upcoming dates for testing. All testing is held indoors at Mercantile Center, 201 Commercial St.
Tuesday, Jan. 18, 10:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 21, 10:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.
