City of Worcester, MA

COVID-19 Update for Oct. 15; 6,687 Cases

For Immediate Release: 10/16/2020 10:42 am

The City of Worcester has released the following COVID-19 update:

To date, there have been 6,687 overall confirmed positive cases in Worcester, an increaes of 137 from last week.

The weekly positivity rate for the week of Oct. 11-17 is 4.34 percent, a decrease from last week, 5.35 percent.

Worcester has had 11.5 average daily cases per 100,000 residents over the past 14 days.

This is the fifthconsecutive week the City has been in the "red zone."

The City must be under 8 cases per 100,000 for 3 consecutive weeks in order to be moved out of the "red zone."

Positive case counts in surrounding towns: Shrewsbury: 455 (increase of 20); Holden: 173 (increase of 1); Grafton: 130 (increase of 8); Leicester: 195 (increase of 4). All changes are from Thursday, Oct. 1.

Shrewsbury has been moved into the "Red Zone" as a high-risk community. 

From Oct. 8-14, 21 dif

UMass Memorial Health Care and Saint Vincent Hospital, as of Wednesday, Oct. 7, have a combined total of 21 COVID-positive in-patients (increae of 1) and 5 total COVID- positive ICU patients (no change). To date, the combined facilities have had 384 COVID- related deaths (increase of 2). A total of 467 employees have tested positive for the virus (increase of 12). All changes are from last week, Wednesday, Sept. 30.

There have been 83 cumulative positive student cases of COVID at Worcester's colleges and universities, with 15 current active cases. 

Cases by age:
19-under: 585 (9%)
20-29: 994 (15%)
30-39: 1,120 (17%)
40-49: 1,034 (15%)
50-59: 1,045 (16%)
60-69: 727 (11%)
70-up: 1,167 (17%)

This past weekend, the multilingual State Command Center field teams visited different neighborhoods and businesses and distributed hand sanitizer, masks and COVID-19 safety guidelines/education:

• 600 masks
• 300 bottles of hand sanitizer
• 580 flyers in Spanish and Arabic

As an update on the COVID cases in the Worcester Fire Department, there are currently 7 positive members. Another 23 who were potentially exposed have been released from quarantine. 

The City of Worcester will be hosting a Telephone Town Hall Monday, Oct. 26 featuring Mayor Joseph M. Petter, City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. and Medical Director Dr. Michael Hirsh. 

• 1-hour session
• The Town Hall will address COVID-19 and field questions
• Residents will receive a call before the start of Town Hall
• To ensure you can take part in this special Town Hall, sign up by next week for the free ALERTWORCESTER system by visiting worcesterma.gov, going to the Emergency Communications page and clicking on “Sign Up Now” under ALERTWORCESTER
• Anyone with disabilities and requires assistance may call the City’s Customer Service Center, 508-929-1300, to sign up for ALERTWORCESTER
• The Town Hall Call is being funded by State COVID Command Center
• The deadline for signing up is Oct. 25

Mayor Petty on Thursday issued a proclamation recognizing the Friends of the Worcester Public Library as part of National Friends of Libraries Week.