Pittsfield Saw Two Mini-COVID Surges This Fall

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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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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'Together for Our Warriors' Seeks to Bridge Gaps in Veteran Services

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — For many veterans, finding resources can be a struggle because of fragmentation among veteran services. 

 

New nonprofit Together for Our Warriors Inc. is trying to streamline that search by creating a central source for information about the services available to them.

 

Veterans can find themselves struggling to navigate available services resulting in some deferring help or falling through the cracks of the system that provides a broad range of services that are stretched thin, said Director Kyle Kuffel. 

 

Veteran resources are available throughout the region, but information about those services is often fragmented among government agencies, nonprofits and other organizations that do not always communicate with one another, said Bernard Tremblay, the nonprofit's board and operations president.

 

The nonprofit was incorporated in March, and its 501(c)(3) status was officially approved on May 12, Kuffel said. 

 

They eventually hope to produce a printed resource guide that can be distributed at veteran events and resource fairs, Tremblay said. 

 

As the organization continues to expand, Kuffel said he hopes it can eventually hire its own Veteran Services Officer accredited by the state and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 

 

The position would help veterans navigate and file claims while easing pressure on an already overburdened system, he said. 

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