From March 2020 when the state first opened a field hospital at the Worcester DCU Center, emergency Disaster Services trucks outside. (Jesse Costa/WBUR)
A COVID-19 field hospital at the DCU Center in Worcester is expected to close for good within the next couple of weeks, UMass Memorial Health Care said in a statement.
The 220-bed field hospital was first set up last spring, then reopened in December to treat patients during a second surge of coronavirus cases. It stopped taking new patients in March but remained in place and ready to reopen in the event of another surge.
Now it is being demobilized.
Field hospital demobilizing; partiers face heftier fines
May 5, 2021
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BOSTON (AP) A COVID-19 field hospital at the DCU Center in Worcester is expected to close for good within the next couple of weeks, UMass Memorial Health Care said in a statement.
The 220-bed field hospital was first set up last spring, then reopened in December to treat patients during a second surge of coronavirus cases. It stopped taking new patients in March but remained in place and ready to reopen in the event of another surge.
Now it is being demobilized.
It treated more than 1,000 people, operator UMass Memorial Health Care said in a statement Tuesday.
“Walk-up options will certainly make it easier for people to access vaccines,” Baker said.
Baker said other sites are already offering vaccinations without appointments.
“There’s walk-up traffic going on in a bunch of different locations,” the Republican added. “What we are going to do is to continue to try to make this as readily available as we possibly can to people and see how far we can get with that.”
Baker said Massachusetts has already surpassed the goal set by President Joe Biden to vaccinate 70% of adults by July 4.
Baker also said that with more than 800 vaccination locations throughout the state, Massachusetts is on track to vaccinate more than 4 million residents by June.
The number of suicides in Tallahassee increased 68% from 2019 to 2020, according to preliminary figures from the Florida Department of Health s Bureau of Vital Statistics.
Local mental health experts say that while the pandemic may seem like the primary factor in the increasing local suicide total, it s too early to understand all of its far-reaching effects.
There were 19 suicides in 2019 and 32 in 2020, according to the state. This is the first time the number of annual suicides crossed 30 in nearly a decade. The increase also contradicts the trend of decline in statewide and national suicide statistics.
The number of U.S. suicides reduced by 6% in 2020, which is the largest decline in at least four decades, according to The Associated Press.