WORCESTER — After slightly rising the week of June 5, the recorded average of new COVID-19 cases in the city fell substantially over the past week, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has downgraded community transmission levels in Worcester County to “low.”
On Friday, the Worcester Department of Public Health’s COVID-19 dashboard was updated to report that the city’s seven-day average for new coronavirus cases stands at 19.7, well below the 57.6 cases a day recorded from the week before.
Over the past seven days, 138 new cases were reported in the city for a total of 58,933 since the start of the pandemic.
The positivity rate for the past two weeks was recorded at 4.43% Friday.
Hospitalizations tick up
Inpatient numbers increased over June 5, with 50 people hospitalized in Worcester’s health care systems, up two from the previous week.
In addition, five are in intensive care unit beds, a decrease in three patients.
The CDC also downgraded Worcester County’s community level of transmission to “low” this week.
No deaths from COVID were reported this week, leaving the total number of deaths from COVID-19 in Worcester at 538.
The city reported 63% of residents are fully vaccinated, and 74% have received at least one shot.
Of the fully vaccinated population, 50% have received at least one booster shot.
The city recorded 170 first doses administered over the past week, 218 becoming fully vaccinated and 410 people receiving booster doses.
The concentration of COVID-19 detected in Greater Worcester wastewater recorded Monday was well above the previous concentrations recorded through the month of June, but a Tuesday recording put the concentration on par with this month’s previous recorded concentration numbers.
On Friday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines for use for children as young as 6 months, and a vote for the CDC’s vaccine advisors to approve the expanded authorization is scheduled for Saturday.
