WORCESTER – Scenarios in which Worcester Public Schools would close were discussed during a briefing on Wednesday, January 5, when the highest levels of new COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic were reported.
Mayor Joe Petty reported that attendance at Worcester Public Schools is around 80 percent. Currently, 265 staff and 722 students are out of school because of COVID-19. Petty also said that the state standards currently in place call for a school to be shut down if 50% of teachers are out from COVID-19. If that occurs at any school, only that school would close while those below the threshold would remain open.
New Cases Nearly Double in a Week
The rate of transmission of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Worcester far exceeds that of previous variants since the start of the pandemic, according to data released today. Over the last week, cases in Worcester reached the highest levels of confirmed cases in a single day and seven-day average. This week also brought the largest increase in new cases in a single week.
In a briefing on City Manager Ed Augustus announced that testing confirmed 3,513 cases of COVID-19 during the previous week. That is a daily average of 501 cases over the last seven days. One week ago, on Wednesday, December 29, Augustus reported the seven-day average as 259 new, confirmed cases daily. Testing over the last day discovered 1,094 new, confirmed cases in Worcester.
Since the start of the pandemic, the highest 7 day average was 301. Just twice did testing confirm over 300 cases in a single day. In six of the last eight days, cases exceeded 300.
The statistics in Worcester are generally consistent with the trend across the United States. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, over 96 percent of the United States is currently experiencing a high level of community transmission of COVID-19.
Three additional deaths of Worcester residents occurred this week, which brings the total number of deaths from the virus to 485. The total number of confirmed cases is now 38,342 in Worcester.
The increase in Worcester is consistent with trends from across the United States. Many states and cities are reporting new, record-high levels of cases and increased hospitalization.
City of Worcester Medical Director Dr. Michael Hirsh says that the data shows previous variants appear more likely to cause serious illness than Omicron, but that may not yield better results.
The World Health Organization and several other public health and infectious disease focused organizations and experts commented in recent days that the rate Omicron is spreading may be unprecedented. Hirsh said if the rate of death and hospitalization decreases, but the number of cases is higher, the total number of cases resulting in serious illness or death may be similar and could be higher.
Hirsh also said that he expects cases to continue to increase, which threatens pushing hospitals to capacity limits. In the last week, the UMass and Saint Vincent healthcare systems collectively saw an increase of 85 receiving inpatient care for COVID-19, bringing the total to 258.
