Worcester Closing Shelter For Homeless With Coronavirus

WORCESTER, MA — A temporary homeless shelter at Worcester Technical High School for homeless people who have tested positive for coronavirus closed on Sunday, city officials said, and all people living there will move to a temporary hospital at the DCU Center.

As of Sunday night, 1,171 people in Worcester had tested positive for coronavirus, an increase of more than 100 cases since Friday evening. Forty-six homeless people have tested positive. The Worcester Tech shelter only had a capacity of 25 people.

At Saint Vincent and UMass Memorial hospitals, 208 people are being treated for coronavirus, including 82 people in intensive care. Fifty-eight people have died of the virus at those two hospitals, and 125 healthcare workers have tested positive.

Even with the shelter at Worcester Tech closing, there will be six shelters operating in Worcester during the crisis, including ones at North High School, St. John's, and Ascension. The SMOC shelter along Queen Street has opened a satellite locations at the SMOC Martin Luther King Jr. Opportunity Center with 40 beds. The city is seeking volunteers for the homeless section at the DCU Center.

Worcester Technical High School will be cleaned and then turned back over to Worcester Public Schools, officials said on Sunday.