WORCESTER, MASS. (WHDH) - West Nile Virus has been detected in mosquitos in Worcester, marking the second mosquito sample to test positive for the virus<a class="excerpt-read-more" href="https://whdh.com/news/west-nile-virus-detected-in-mosquitos-in-worcester/">Read More</a>
The Department of Public Health changed how it counts COVID-19 deaths in Massachusetts long-term care facilities on Thursday, aligning with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control s national definition and in the process, cutting the state s cumulative long-term care death toll by 1,220.
In Thursday s weekly report, DPH started using the federal standard for long-term care deaths, which counts all residents of a facility who died from COVID complications in a facility, hospital or other location, but does not count those who recovered from COVID-19 and later died.
Up to this point, Massachusetts had counted all long-term care residents who contracted the virus at some point before they died even those who recovered between their bout with the illness and their death as COVID-19 long-term care deaths. The new standard mirrors the CDC s recommendation and that in place in most other states, according to the Baker administration.