Gov. Baker Talks Field Hospitals Amid Spike in COVID-19 Cases

Governor Charlie Baker gave his daily update today and spoke primarily about the process of setting up a field hospital at the DCU Center in Worcester, with the plan of setting up field hospitals in other locations if they are needed. The move comes amid a spike of cases in the Commonwealth.

Before talking about the field hospitals, the governor gave his daily update on cases. He announced that the Department of Public Health reported 2,482 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday with a seven-day average positivity rate of 2.9 percent. 98,078 tests were reported with over 7 million tests having been administered overall at this point.

Governor Baker today announced that the first field hospital will be stood up at the DCU Center in Worcester as the Commonwealth prepares additional capacity for COVID-19 patients. This site will be built by the National Guard and is the first field hospital to re-open in the state since June.

The Commonwealth continues to see an alarming rise in cases and hospitalizations for COVID-19 and we are acting now to expand hospital capacity... All residents are urged to follow guidance to wear masks, stay home at night and stop gathering. We are preparing our hospital system to add more beds and stand up our first field hospital to care for COVID-19 patients if these trends continue. We will keep working with our health care system to monitor capacity and will be prepared to open more locations if needed. ~ Governor Charlie Baker

The plan to re-establish the field hospital in Worcester was activated this week. The site is expected to be available for patients in the first week of December if needed and additional locations will be added in other regions if necessary. No further changes or restrictions to regular hospital services in Massachusetts are being implemented at this time.