Health

HE A LTH • Summer 2020 5 ates has locations in those two states, said such workers, known as DSPs, have their pay closely tied to state and federal funding to human service pro- vider agencies. Workers categorized as social and human service assistants make an average of $35,060 a year nationally, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Such entry- level positions are expected to grow sharply in the coming years because of the needs of an aging population, according to the agency. 16% of Worcester County coronavirus tests have been positive Almost 16% of more than 70,000 coronavirus tests conducted in Worcester County have brought back positive results, according to a Worcester Business Journal analysis of Massachusetts Department of Public Health data. Positive test rates are seen as a criti- cal way to gauge the spread of the virus in a community, with public offi- cials working to increase testing state- wide to more thoroughly account for the breadth of the pandemic. Towns in Worcester County have had roughly 70,593 individuals tested for the coronavirus with 11,164, or almost 16%, testing positive. Four communities had positive- result rates of more than 20%. • Worcester, which has seen 21,914 coronavirus tests administered with 4,910, or 22%, testing positive. • Milford has had 2,945 individuals tested with 617, or 21%, resulting in positive results • In Northbridge, 21% of 1,598 tests have been positive • In Westborough, 20% of 1,486 tests are positive. Among other Worcester County communities, Fitchburg has had 4,610 people tested, recording 758, or 16%, positive cases. Leominster recorded 613 positive cases, or 14%, having the virus after 4,523 were tested. In small, rural towns, rates have remained far lower. Positive rates were less than 10% in almost half the coun- ty's cities and towns, with the lowest rates in Hubbardston at 2%, and Princeton at 3%. In some communities, the state specified only that fewer than five positive results were known, including in New Braintree and Royalston. DPH records other large Central Massachusetts communities have seen large numbers that were notable as well, particularly those MetroWest commu- nities in Middlesex County. • Framingham reported 7,577 coro- navirus tests administered with 22%, or 1,681, positive results. • Marlborough reported 4,510 tested individuals and 938, or 21%, testing positive. • Natick has seen 2,315 tests given with 412, or 18%, resulting in positive results. The positive test rate in Worcester County is nearly identical to the state- wide average. Across Massachusetts, 16%, or 97,964, of the 614,133 tested individuals received positives. Central Mass. healthcare centers have received $139M in bailout funds Hospitals and other healthcare cen- ters in Central Massachusetts have received nearly $139 million in corona- virus-related funding to help during what some health leaders have said is a budgetary crisis as well as a health one. Aid has been both substantial and what some hospital leaders have said isn't nearly enough to ward off major fiscal challenges ahead, largely due to everyday medical procedures being postponed for weeks during the height of the pandemic. In Worcester, UMass Memorial Medical Center has received $52 mil- lion, and Saint Vincent Hospital has gotten nearly $20 million, according to a review of federal health grants by the website COVID Stimulus Watch, a project of Good Jobs First, a group Open. Safe. Ready. Get all the care you need now. We're here for you! www.harringtonhospital.org Continued on Page 6 One of the first coronavirus test- ing sites in Central Massachusetts was at the UMass Memorial University cam- pus.

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