Sept. 22, 2022: There was a obvious increase in cases over the past week with the state reporting 9,091 new case, up 1,000 from the week before, and the county up 297, 70 cases more than the week before. 

 

The total numbers are 1,869,603 for the state and 31,605 for the county. Wastewater monitoring is showing rising volumes of SARS-COV-2, particularly in the Boston region. Pittsfield and Greenfield's seven-day average has been increasing since the beginning of September and Amherst is showing a sharp spike upward after the first week of the month. Samples are taken one to seven times a week and analyzed by Biobot Analytics.

 

 

The state's seven-day positive average rate is 7.48 percent and the county's jumber more than a point to 9.48.

 

There is a total of 14,186 cases in Pitsfield, up 131 new cases in the past week, and a total of 3,285 in North Adams, up 26. In the two weeks ending Sept. 17, Pittsfield added 198 new cases and Adams (2,014) and North Adams 49 and 42, respectively. Dalton (1,614) followed at 32 and Williamstown (1,880) at 21, with all other communities below that. Mount Washington has the fewest cases reported since March 2020 at 19. 

 

The state reported 45 deaths for a total of 20,251 but the Berkshires had one death removed for a total of 412. 

 

There are 590 patients statewide with the novel coronavirus but only 194, or 33 percent, are being primarily treated for the virus and 44 percent, or 260, are not fully vaccinated. There are close to 23,000 hospitalizations nationwide but only nine in Berkshire County.

 

Total doses of vaccine administered in the Bay State is 15,691,102.

 

Sept. 15, 2022: The state's seen a slight uptick in the number of positive cases following the start of school at the beginning of the month. 

 

The state reported 7,936 new cases in the past week, up more than 1,000 from the week before, for a total of 1,860,512. The county's up by 228 cases, 37 more than the week before, for a total of 31,308.

 

The county had no new deaths, staying at a toll of 413, but the state reported 37 for a total to date of 20,206. 

 

Pittsfield continues to have the highest number of cases, reporting 163 for two weeks ending on Sept. 10, and having 105 active cases. All other communities reported fewer than 30 cases for those two weeks, with North Adams the highest at 29 for a total of 3,259. 

 

The seven-day positive average rate is 7.32 percent and the 14-day average for the county is 8.07, both up from the week before. 

 

Hospitalizations remain fewer than 600 statewide. There were 591 patients who have tested positive for COVID-19 but only 182, or 31 percent, are being treated primarily for the virus. Of those positive, 254, or 43 percent, are not fully vaccinated. There are only 14 patients who are intubated,  compared to about 480 in mid-January and more than a 1,000 at the height of the pandemic in April 2020. 

 

The U.S. CDC reports 95,552,308 total cases and 1,048,532 deaths; 109,201,576 people, or 35 percent of those 5 and older, have had their first booster dose. The daily trends in cases, deaths and hospital admissions have been trending downward.

 

Sept. 8, 2022: The number of positive cases continue their slow decline in Massachusetts with 6,623 this week compared to 7,790 last week. The Berkshires was fairly flat with 191 new cases compared to 187 last week. 

 

The totals to date statewide are now 1,852,576 and 31,080 for the county. The seven-day positive average rate dropped by about half a percentage, from 7.61 percent to 7.13; the county's 14-day rate is 7.88 percent, down from 8.5 percent.

 

For the two weeks ending Sept. 3, Pittsfield had the most cases with 179  (13,852 to date) and North Adams far second with 36 (total 3,242). Only two other communities had more than 20 new cases during those two weeks — Adams at 25 (1,955 total) and Great Barrington at 22 (1,745). Twenty-one of the county's 32 communities had between five and zero cases.

 

The county did have four deaths related to COVID-19 this week, the first deaths in the past month, for a total of 413 to date. The state had 57 deaths for a total of 20,169. 

 

BMC reported five patients who tested positive. There are 573 positive patients statewide (down about 60 from last week), but only 161, or 29 percent, are being primarily treated for COVID-19. Thirty-nine percent of patients, or 226, are not fully vaccinated. 

 

The number of cases in the United States to date is 94,888,931 and there have been 1,043,921 deaths; 29,013 people are hospitalized.

 

 

Sept. 1, 2022: Positive cases continue their slow downward trend but hospitalizations are up slightly, reaching more than 600 for the first time since late July. The state's seven-day and the county's 14-day positive average rates are both down slightly down from the week before at 7.61 and 8.5 percent respectively

 

The state reported 7,790 new cases, down from 7,952 the week before, for a total of 1,845,953 to date. County numbers dropped below 200 for the first time since mid-July with 187 for a total of 30,889. 

 

Total numbers for Pittsfield are now at 13,776, with 120 new cases in the last week and North Adams is at 3,225, with 17 new cases. Pittsfield had 181 total new cases for the two weeks ending Aug. 27 and North Adams 45. The next highest number in those two weeks was Adams at 33, bringing its total to 1,949.

 

There have been no deaths in Berkshire County for three weeks but there were 49 deaths in the rest of the state for a total of 20,112. 

 

The patient count is 606 with 199, or 33 percent, primarily being treated for COVID-19. There 224 patients, or 37 percent, who are not fully vaccinated. BMC has eight patients on precautions, down from 15 last week. 

 

The U.S. CDC this week recommended updated boosters from Pfizer for ages 12 and older and Moderna for 18 and older.  The new boosters add Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 spike protein components to the current vaccine composition, helping to restore protection that has waned since previous vaccination by targeting variants that are more transmissible and immune-evading, according to the CDC. Booster recommendations for pediatric groups will be coming in the next weeks. 

 

More than 15,369,944 doses of vaccine have been administered to date in Massachusetts and more than 6 million people have received at least one dose. 

 

The Johns Hopkins University & Medicine shows that the New England states, with the exception of New Hampshire, have the highest rates of vaccination in the continental United States at more than 80 percent. Puerto Rico and Guam are also at more than 80 percent. Wyoming has the lowest rate at 51.7 percent. 

 

 

Aug. 25, 2022: The trend remains as a slight decrease in new cases compared to the week before. The state reported 7,952 new cases for a total of 1,838,163, and down 272 from last week. That's the lowest drop in week-over-week cases since July 21. 

 

The county numbers aren't significantly different, with 222 new cases for a total of 30,702. That's down from 226 the week before. The highest week count was 1,071 on May 12. These figures do not include home tests. 

 

There were 38 deaths statewide for a total of 20,063 but no deaths in Berkshire County, leaving that total at 409. 

 

There were 587 patients this past week of which 182, or 31 percent, were being treated primarily for COVID-19 and 252, or 43 percent, who were not fully vaccinated. There were 15 patients on precautions at BMC.

 

The state's seven-day positive average rate remains unchanged at 7.84 percent and the county's 14-day positive average rate is 8.69 percent. The lowest positive rates are Duke's and Nantucket at 4.55 percent and Hampshire at 5.89 percent. 

 

More than 15,340,089 does of vaccine have been administered and 5.45 million residents are considered fully vaccinated. More than 6.3 million have had at least one dose. The highest rates are for those 60 and older at 99 percent having at least one dose and the lowest is up to 4 years old at 14 percent. Still, with school starting, nearly 90 percent of students age 12 and older have had at least one inoculation and close to 60 percent of those age 5 to 11 years. 

 

Nationally, the numbers are 6 percent or less for up to 4 years old and 38 percent for these ages 5 to 11. 

 

Chronological Narrative

1) Wash your hands frequently

2) Cover sneezes and coughs

3) Avoid close contact with people if you or they are ill

4) Wear a mask

5) Get vaccinated

Health Secretary Marylou Sudders demonstrates the correct way to wash your hands.

Northern Berkshire COVID-19 Operations Center

Berkshire Medical Center

Toll-free hotline for questions staffed weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m: 1-855-BMC-LINK or 1-855-262-5465. Berkshire Health Systems also has page with upated information here.

Southwestern Vermont Medical Center 

Southwestern Vermont Health Care has an information page here. 

Communities

Pittsfield's COVID-19 page has links to a daily update page and to subscribe for alerts

Other Information Sites

Massachusetts Department of Public Health: 617-983-6800

Vermont Department of Health: 802-863-7240

U.S. Centers for Disease Control has information and latest updates.