Pittsfield Saw Two Mini-COVID Surges This Fall
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city has seen ups and downs with COVID-19 cases this fall and is currently on the lower end of case counts.
Health officials now say sewage testing is the truest indicator of the virus's impact on the community because it accounts for at-home tests.
"We did experience in the past two months a couple of mini surges throughout the city," Director of Public Health Andy Cambi said to the Board of Health on Wednesday.
"It's hard to gauge it from the active tests we have received because a lot of it, as I mentioned before, is done through at-home test kits."
On Tuesday, Biobot sewage testing showed 1.3 million copies per liter. The recent peak of sewage concentration occurred in mid-October when there were 2.7 million copies per liter and last week, the city saw a low of around 988,000 copies per liter.
The percent positivity rate is about 11, down from over 13 percent in mid-October, and there are around 31.5 average cases per 100,000. The city has around 68 estimated actively contagious cases and remains in the red incidence rate, having more than 10 average cases per 100,000 and a positivity rate over 5 percent.
COVID hospitalizations at Berkshire Medical Center have not exceeded 20.
"Our wastewater is completely different than what we saw in our case counts," Cambi said. "This is a true reflection of what we're seeing as far as the virus concentration in our population."
Reportedly the city is seeing a high usage of at-home test kits being utilized, with many visiting the Health Department to pick them up and the department dropping them off at locations. There is still a large supply.
Stop the Spread testing sites that provided free PCR tests to state residents regardless of insurance coverage were discontinued in April.
Cambi added that it does not compare to what the city saw at the beginning of the year, as cases reached an all-time high in January, but an increase has been expected for the fall season.
This year marked the return of Pittsfield's annual Halloween Parade after a two-year absence due to the virus. The parade attracted around 5,000 people to Tyler Street.
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