WORCESTER – City Manager Ed Augustus announced changes to the city’s COVID-19 policies during a press conference at the Worcester Public Library on Wednesday, December 29, as the city confirms the most cases in a single day since the start of the pandemic.
Augustus said he will sign an order on Wednesday that reduces visitor capacity at all municipal buildings to 25 percent and move board and commission meetings to a virtual format. The Worcester Senior Center will cancel all in-person programming and move to a remote format during January.
Augustus also said the vaccination policy for city employees will require a booster shot within 14 days of being eligible or be tested weekly. Worcester Public Schools intends to implement a similar policy, according to Augustus.
Since the vaccine requirement went into effect for city employees, the vaccination rate increased 10 percent. Currently, 84 percent of city employees are vaccinated while 73 percent of Worcester Public School employees.
In updated case numbers, confirmed positive cases number 34,829 since the start of the pandemic. Since last week, 2,040 cases were confirmed. Since Tuesday, new confirmed cases number 923, a single day record. The seven-day average of daily cases sits at 259 per day.
Since the start of the pandemic, 475 Worcester residents have died in connection with the virus, including five over the last week.
Dr. Richard Ellison of the UMass Memorial Hospital Infectious Disease Department said that the Omicron variant is doubling around every two to two-and-a-half days, likely driving the increase in case numbers. Two weeks ago, sample testing showed five percent of cases were Omicron. Testing last week showed 20 percent of cases were Omicron.
Ellison said he expects updated information next week, but expects testing results will show as much as 70 to 80 percent of cases will be the Omicron variant.
Of city residents, 120,420 individuals, about 58 percent, received full vaccination. That represents a one percent increase since December 10. Around 14 percent, 39,495 individuals, received the booster shot.
