City of Worcester, MA

COVID-19 Update for April 2; 212 Positive Cases

For Immediate Release: 4/2/2020 5:54 pm

• There are now 212 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in the City of Worcester. All 212 individuals are being monitored by the Worcester Division of Public Health and are in isolation.

• In the last two days, Worcester has seen an increase of 97 new positive cases, which is a rate of 48 new cases per day.  
  
  
• 19 residents at the Jewish Healthcare Center in Worcester were tested for COVID-19. 16 of the residents tested positive, two are awaiting test results and one tested negative. The City was saddened to learn that three residents who tested positive passed away yesterday. 13 residents remain at the facility, isolated in one wing. All but one of those 13 residents are asymtomatic. Six staff members have tested positive and six other staff members are awaiting test results.
  
  
• Work continued today on the setup of a 250-bed field medical facility at the DCU Center. There will be a 3-4 day setup period. UMass is looking for it to be operational by next Thursday. Logistics for this field medical station will be coordinated between the City, UMass Memorial Health Care, and state and local agencies. This is the first of three proposed sites in Massachusetts
  

• UMass Memorial Healthcare is looking to hire medical professionals and students to staff this field medical station. UMass is immediately recruiting employees, including nurses, PCAs and other health professionals as well as current students in a medical, nursing, pharmacy, and physician assistant, or respiratory programs. For more information, visit: joinumassmemorial.com.
  
  
• The City of Worcester will be receiving $2,716,551 in HUD grants for a First Allocation of the Covid-19 response funding. These Community Development Block Grant will be integral to our city moving forward. The City will also receive a $1,327,821 Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) which will help with vulnerable populations and $94,776 for Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA).
  
  
• Homeless Shelter update: Overall beds taken: 73; Overall beds available: 2. Saint John’s Church (25); Ascension Church (23); North High School (25); Worcester Tech – 2 patients under investigation.
  
  
• As of today, 22 City of Worcester employees have volunteered at the emergency shelters. (86 community members have expressed interest – currently in the credential process). The City of Worcester continues to look for volunteers to staff temporary homeless shelters at North High School, Saint John’s Church, and Ascension Church. To volunteer, please email volunteer@WorcesterMA.gov.

• Andy’s Attic at South High School is opened to provide clothing, toiletries and other necessities to the city’s four temporary homeless shelters (North High School, St. John’s, Ascension Church, Worcester Technical High School) during the COVID-19 crisis. To date, 21 bags of clothing and necessities have been delivered to the North High School shelter. Deliveries to other sites were to be made today. To donate to Andy’s Attic, email contact@Andysattic.org.
  
  
• Residential street sweeping will begin on Monday, April 13. We ask residents and business owners to sweep their sidewalk debris into the gutter before street sweepers come to your area. Yard waste, such as leaves and branches, is NOT to be placed in the street during spring sweeping. (only during fall leaf collection). Because the City’s Yard Waste Sites are closed until further notice, we are requesting that residents temporarily store their yard waste at home until the sites are reopened. Illegal dumping of yard waste at the sites while they are closed will not be tolerated and violators will be subject to fines.
   
• The City is asking the public to cooperate during the Spring Sweeping Program by moving parked cars that may interfere with residential sweeping. Vehicles that interfere with street sweeping will be tagged and may be towed. There is a $50 fine for cars that interfere with street sweeping.
  
  
• Residential street sweeping will take 10–12 weeks to complete. The residential street sweeping schedule follows the trash collection routes. This year, crews will start in the Monday trash collection area and will then progress to the Tuesday, Friday, Thursday, and Wednesday trash collection areas, in that order. DPW will notify residents in advance by posting highly visible signs and having the weekly sweeping schedule appear in the T&G and on the city website. Information is also available to cable TV subscribers on the Local Government Access Channel 192 where weekly updates of the areas being swept can be seen. The Alert Worcester System is also used to notify residents by phone. 
  

• Worcester Together, a partnership between the City of Worcester, the Greater Worcester Community Foundation and United Way of Central Massachusetts, continues to raise money for efforts dealing with the COVID-19 crisis. To date, the fund has raised in excess of $2.75 million. To donate visit: worcesterma.gov/coronavirus or text “worcestercovid19” to 243725.
  
  
• Senior Center Update: number of seniors contacted to date: 1,928; Outreach phone calls: 184 calls made today; Number of meals delivered in Worcester today: 956.
  
  
• The City of Worcester COVID-19 information line can be reached at 508-799-1019. This service is available in multiple languages. Individuals can speak live with a nurse, Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. The line has received more than 2,400 calls with more than 400 connected to a live nurse.