By JULIE CUNNINGHAM
(Athol, MA) President and CEO of Heywood Healthcare, Winfield S. Brown, gave a stark warning yesterday about the rising number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the Heywood Healthcare system.
”We need to socially distance, physically distance, have really good hygiene and wear masks, everything you know you need to do, but the positives are still coming in and our in patient volume is up ” said Brown.
Despite this, the positive test rate at Heywood is far below the Commonwealth. Heywood has a positive rate of 11.1% while the state has a rate of 18.6%. There are seven in patient positives in the Heywood system right now, up from one a week ago.
While cases in Massachusetts are on the decline and the state is poised to begin reopening, Brown urges caution to prevent another spike in cases.
“Make sure you’re careful out in public and make sure you’re family is careful out in public,” said Brown.