WORCESTER, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — The week between Christmas and New Years is usually a time for people to relax, but not for the staff at the state's only COVID-19 field hospital in Worcester.
Staff at the converted DCU Center say their resources are being pushed to the limit. They're expecting to reach 75 percent capacity by the end of the weekend, as the virus continues to surge and more patients are being admitted than are being discharged.
Massachusetts' Department of Public Health reported a single-day record number of cases on New Year's Eve, capping off the year with 6,887 new cases confirmed. And that number doesn't account for the infections that occurred on Christmas Day.
If the two-week infection rule is correct, the state could potentially see a post-holiday surge within a matter of days.
But, help is on the way; a second COVID-19 field hospital is expected to open on Monday in Lowell, at the University of Massachusetts Student Rec Center.
It'll come with 77 additional beds, and much like the DCU Center in Worcester, the UMass Lowell Field Hospital won't be taking walk-ins; only transfers from overwhelmed hospitals in the Commonwealth.
WBZ NewsRadio's Matt Shearer reports:
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Written by Brit Smith
(Photo: Getty Images)