WORCESTER - The City of Worcester reported 14 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. The city's total is now 115.
In the surrounding towns, there are now 21 cases in Shrewsbury, 16 in Grafton, seven in Holden and two in Leicester.
City officials were joined by UMass Memorial CEO Dr. Eric Dickson and Carolyn Jackson, CEO of Saint Vincent Hospital, to answer questions pertaining to Governor Charlie Baker's announcement the DCU Center in Worcester will be used as a 250-bed field medical station.
Setup of the facility will begin on Wednesday, April 1 and will be run by UMass Memorial Medical Center. Trucks with emergency gear and supplies are already in Worcester outside the convention center. Dr. Dickson said he expects the station will be set up in three days, and both hospitals have staff with experience setting up field hospitals in Afghanistan and Iraq. The hospital will be looking for volunteers and will be hiring staff to help.
Dr. Dickson said, "With the [Worcester Tech] homeless shelter, Beaumont Skilled nursing facility and the DCU [Center] we are confident we will have the capacity necessary to provide great care to the citizens of this region and keep that mortality rate from this horrible disease as low as possible."
Dr. Dickson noted the city was the first in the state to set up shelters for the homeless.
Jackson said right now St. Vincent Hospital has adequate space and can handle the volume of patients coming into their building. She said the addition of the DCU center beds will help if and when there is a surge in local cases.
Both Umass Memorial Medical Center and St. Vincent Hospital have plans to expand their intensive care units. The field medical station at the DCU Center will treat patients who are stable but still need to be monitored before they are released from care.
WATCH BELOW: Tuesday, March 31- City of Worcester COVID-19 Update
More important notes from the press conference:
- City Manager Ed Augustus and Mayor Joe Petty both shared their condolences to the veterans at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home that passed away.
- Dr. Dickson said the DCU Center medical facility will be used for the least-sick COVID-19 patients to make beds available at UMass Memorial. D.r Dickson referred to the DCU patients as: "Too sick to go home, but not sick enough to warrant a hospital bed."
- Worcester Medical Director Dr. Michael Hirsh celebrated his daughter's graduation from Umass Medical School Tuesday. The school held a virtual graduation allowing fourth year medical students to graduate early to support efforts to treat COVID-19 patients.
The City will hold a press conference each day at 5 PM at City Hall until further notice. Each conference can be streamed here live at SpectrumNews1.com.
Watch Tuesday's press conference below:
Photo courtesy: DCU Center/Facebook