More than one in four cities and towns in Central Massachusetts are now in the state's highest-risk coronavirus category, as cases across Massachusetts reach their highest levels since May.
In all, 23 cities and towns are now in the red category in the latest data reported Thursday by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. That includes Fitchburg, with the area's highest rate of 21.4 positive cases per 100,000 people in the past two weeks, and Webster at 15.8.
Any community is added to the red category if they have eight or more positive cases in a two-week period. A month ago, Central Massachusetts had just four communities with that designation.
Across Worcester County, cases in the past week have risen by 791 to hit 16,472. That one-week total is the highest since early June, when cases were declining rapidly after an early spring spike. Deaths in Worcester County rose by 15 to hti 1,171, the fourth highest total among Massachusetts counties.
Massachusetts totals have also risen sharply, with 7,814 new cases in the past week through Thursday, the highest such total since late May. The state now has a total of 151,741 cases. Statewide deaths rose in the past week by 138 to hit 9,589.
[Related: Central Mass. urgent care centers adding coronavirus mobile testing]
Updated data wasn't available Friday morning for the city of Worcester, but the city announced Thursday that it would close its skating rink on the Worcester Common this season out of health concerns.
Among Worcester colleges, Assumption University said Thursday it will impose a week-long lockdown for students after a jump in positive cases required it to quarantine or isolate more than one in five students. The university said Friday morning it had 130 students in quarantine. Worcester Polytechnic Institute has reported seven positive cases in the past week, with six students in quarantine on campus and five off-campus. At Clark University, no positive cases have been reported in the past week but 17 students on campus are in quarantine or isolation.
[Related: State health officials urging caution ahead of Thanksgiving]
Hospitalizations, though still far lower than during the spring spike, are also on the rise.
UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester has 20 inpatient cases, with seven in intensive care, and Saint Vincent Hospital has nine in inpatient care and two in the ICU. Elsewhere, MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham has 14 inpatient cases and three in the ICU, and Milford Regional Medical Center has five inpatient cases.
Nationwide, coronavirus cases have reached a third wave, and the highest daily case numbers yet recorded. Daily numbers have exceeded 80,000 three times and on Thursday surpassed 90,000, according to The New York Times.
Cases are approaching 9 million, according to Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, with nearly 229,000 deaths. Worldwide, cases have surpassed 45 million and deaths are at nearly 1.2 million, with cases rising especially sharply for a second time in Europe.
October 30, 2020 at 10:03PM
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1 in 4 Central Mass. towns in coronavirus red category - Worcester Business Journal
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