UMass Memorial Medical Center has reopened its COVID-19 command center, establishing a structure to manage a recent increase in cases and plan for the possibility of even more.

The move by the Worcester hospital portends struggles that may lie ahead throughout the health care system, as the pandemic throws new curve balls at traumatized and exhausted providers.

UMass Memorial Health in Worcester announced plans Wednesday to mandate COVID-19 vaccination for all staff, according to a memo sent to caregivers from President and CEO Eric Dickson.

The program, which is set to begin in the fall, will require executives and department chairs to receive their first dose by Oct. 1, and all other caregivers by Nov. 1.

UMass Memorial Health told staff on Wednesday it is converting the West 1 unit at the UMass Memorial Medical Center - Memorial Campus in Worcester to an all-COVID unit, after the number of admitted patients quadrupled over the course of a week, according to a staff memo circulated on Wednesday.

More than 5,000 breakthrough COVID infections have been reported in Massachusetts, according to the latest Department of Public Health data. But the rate of fully vaccinated people ending up in the hospital remains low.

As COVID-19 cases rise and the delta variant makes its way into the state, UMass Memorial Medical Center on Thursday unveiled a new weapon in the fight against the pandemic: monoclonal antibody treatment.

“We hope as few patients as possible will need this facility, but if they do, we will be ready,” said Dr. Michael Gustafson, president of UMass Memorial Medical Center, at the unveiling of the treatment trailer, which is parked at the Hahnemann campus. 

Ten years ago, William Lee, 77, underwent a liver transplant at UMass Memorial Medical Center, as he was suffering from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of primary liver cancer. 

Ten years later, at 87, Lee has continued to live a healthy life with his family.

 Julian, along with 24 other babies, set a new record last week at UMass Memorial Medical Center - Memorial Campus. 

From 3:50 p.m. Wednesday to 3:50 p.m. Thursday, 14 boys and 11 girls were born in the Maternity Center at UMass Memorial, surpassing the typical number of babies — 12 — they deliver in a day.

Worcester Academy sophomore Justin Mohaghegh of Holden tested positive for COVID-19 in January. Before getting back to playing his sports — basketball and golf — he had to complete the school’s five-stage protocol.

It's a process familiar to all Worcester Academy student-athletes who contract the coronavirus.

There was a time when it was possible for the average resident to not know anyone who died from, or even came down with, the COVID-19 virus. 

Not anymore. Few of us remain who don't know someone who simply had to isolate for a few weeks with mild symptoms, or someone who spent time in the hospital, or someone who had it with no symptoms at all. Or someone who died. A grandparent. A cousin. An in-law.