Health & Fitness
Coronavirus In Worcester Shifts Toward Young People
Fall school sports are canceled, and city officials say that people under 19 are increasingly testing positive for the virus.
WORCESTER, MA — If young people in Worcester thought they were immune to coronavirus, Thursday may have been a wake-up call.
Not only did Worcester Public Schools cancel the fall sports season due to a high case rates, but city officials also announced that people under age 19 are becoming a larger share of new cases.
And, officials sought to show how the virus threatens young people. Resident Deondre Carr, 21, told his coronavirus story at a Thursday news conference. After returning from a trip to Georgia and Texas in June, Carr returned to Worcester and tested positive.
Carr was staying at a hotel in Sturbridge awaiting his test results when he started to feel COVID-19 symptoms. He passed out while taking a shower, and woke up in an ambulance, he said. What followed was "traumatic." He was intubated during a four-day stay in the intensive care unit at Harrington Hospital in Southbridge, and then spent another 10 days recovering at a hotel in Northampton.
Carr's comments came after Worcester officials announced 141 news cases over the past week, and one day after the state Department of Public Health reported that the city would remain on the "high-risk" list for the fourth consecutive week.
Worcester officials are focusing on reaching people who may be skirting health advice like wearing masks and social distancing. They announced a new media campaign on Thursday, and said that state workers will be going out around the city this weekend to talk to people who aren't adhering to health guidelines.
When the virus emerged this spring, it was mainly a threat to elderly people, especially those living in long-term care facilities. But this fall, the average age of victims has been shifting younger. That's been the case in Marlborough and Framingham, two other "high-risk" communities.
In Worcester, people under age 19 made up 9 percent of all cases this week — that's up a full percentage point compared to last week, officials said.
"Even though I'm a young, healthy 21-year-old, this virus impacted me in a traumatic way," Carr said. "Just because you're young doesn't mean you're immune."
