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.

Striking Out Cancer in Berkshires Holds Sunday Party Before June 27 Games

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires.com Sports
10:53AM / Monday, June 15, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Striking out Cancer in the Berkshires has been bringing smiles for half a decade.

 

This year, it also is bringing Smiley.

 

A day of community baseball and softball games that act as a fund-raiser for the Jimmy Fund is the brainchild of Joe DiCicco, who has expanded the event’s footprint over the years and seen a steady growth in money raised as a result.

 

This year’s games are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on June 27 on Buddy Pellerin Field at Clapp Park.

 

But the festivities begin this Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Sideline Saloon on Fenn Street, where DiCicco invites families to come down, free of charge, to take photos with a Boston Red Sox World Series Trophy and meet Boston mascot Wally the Green Monster and Smiley, the mascot of the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox.

 

“It’s just a little way to give back to the community to start the week,” DiCicco said. “Last year, we had the trophy for the first time, and they want to bring it back, so that’s a good thing. Wally is different, and so is Smiley.”

 

What has not changed is DiCicco’s dedication to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute’s Jimmy Fund, inspired by Einar Gustafson, a child who beat cancer with the help of Dr. Sidney Farber in 1948 and shared his story with the world under the name Jimmy to protect his anonymity.