Updated Apr 5, 2020 at 7:24 AM

WORCESTER - Seeking a more real-time picture of the COVID-19 situation, the city reached out to the UMass Memorial and St. Vincent Hospital health care systems to get a sense of what’s currently going on in the fight against the pandemic.

City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. said between UMass Memorial, including its regional campuses, and St. Vincent’s, they are currently taking care of 109 COVID-19 cases, including 29 people in intensive care units. The health care systems have had 14 COVID-19-related deaths, and 64 total hospital employees have tested positive for the virus.

Officially, the city’s count increased Saturday by 43 to a total of 310.

Dr. Michael P. Hirsh, the city’s medical director, said the updated health care system numbers appeared manageable. He estimated the ICU beds are at about 45% to 50% capacity. Where bottlenecks are occurring, he said, are with patients who are taking a while to recover - coming off a ventilator, for example.

Hirsh said that’s why it’s so important that the city is hosting the state’s first field hospital at the DCU Center and is converting the Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center to a COVID-19 recovery facility. He said the hospitals are already taking steps to expand that ICU capacity, and are even converting anesthesia equipment to ventilators in anticipation of a predicted spike in cases by the end of next week.

According to the state Department of Public Health, Worcester County has seen a total of 915 positive cases. Twenty-four new deaths were announced across the state, for a total of 216. The newly reported deaths included three people from Worcester County - a man and a woman in their 90s, and a man in his 80s

Posted Apr 3, 2020 at 6:00 AM

 

WINCHENDON — People driving past the industrial park on Route 140 may wonder why there are cars parked outside of Mylec Hockey, a company famous for dek hockey equipment. There is nothing necessarily essential about dek hockey unless you really love to play — or there are hospitals in need of help during a coronavirus pandemic.

Mylec has recently become an essential business because it is making flooring for tents being set up all over the country to meet the needs of hospitals during the growing COVID-19 crisis. The flooring, called DEKMAT, is manufactured to withstand heavy traffic.

Mylec is working with Progressive Emergency, a company that provides municipalities with tents and equipment to set up outdoor hospitals, triage centers or whatever is needed. Mylec President Rick Laperriere said he has previously worked with the Texas company that is now building medical tents for hospitals.

“When immigrants started rushing to the (U.S.-Mexico) border,” said Laperriere.

Mylec has been working on flooring for the last 10 years. The flooring surface has an added advantage of assembly without tools, and is a good, strong addition to the emergency response tents that receive a lot of traffic.

“They love our flooring because the people aren’t in the elements and not touching ground,” said Laperriere. “If by chance if it got blood on it, they can power wash it and steam clean it and it doesn’t hurt it,” he added. “If they want to move to another area, they just roll the floor up and move on.”

The Winchendon company remains busy during the coronavirus business shutdown, though many other manufacturers have closed their doors.

“We are working on a very large order right now,” Laperriere said in a phone interview on Tuesday, March 31. “We are working overtime so we can get it out ASAP.”