COVID-19 Update for March 21; 12 Positive Cases
For Immediate Release:
3/21/2020 5:23 pm
The City of Worcester has released the following COVID-19 update for March 21:
- There are now 12 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 in the City of Worcester.
- All 12 individuals are being monitored by the Worcester Division of Public Health and are in isolation.
- As per the Governor’s briefing today, there is no announcement of any kind of a shelter in place order for Massachusetts at this time.
- City of Worcester first responders are taking advantage of priority testing that has been set up by the federal government. Testing of Worcester Police Department officers began today and the Worcester Fire Department will have 18 firefighters tested tomorrow.
- The City has created an email address for anyone interested in volunteering during this public health crisis at volunteer@worcesterma.gov.
- Wellness check phone calls were made to more than 450 seniors this week. (600 seniors are registered at the Worcester Senior Center). This includes seniors speaking English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese and Albanian.
- The Senior Center continues to coordinate with St. Paul’s Elder Outreach who is delivering food and supplies to seniors in need.
- Information on senior grocery store hours was also emailed to more than 1,000 seniors in the database.
- The City of Worcester COVID-19 information line can be reached at 508-799-1019. This service is available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese and Albanian. There is an option for idividuals with positive or pending test results to speak live with a nurse, Monday through Friday 9 am to 4 pm. More than 1,100 total calls have been received with 94 calls connected live to a nurse.
- The City of Worcester Government Channel (192) is broadcasting COVID-19 information 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Content includes a news crawl, bulletins and videos in rotation. Last week, two fully virtual meetings were broadcast. More than 25 videos are running in multiple languages, including seven CDC videos.
- Daily media briefings are available live on the City of Worcester Facebook page as well as live on Channel 192.
