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Gov. Charlie Baker explains why he declared a state of emergency over the coronavirus outbreak.

Berkshire County COVID-19 Cases at 7; Governor Declares State of Emergency

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
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NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency on Tuesday afternoon as the state continued to grapple with rising numbers of presumptive positives for the novel coronavirus.
 
The governor, at a press conference broadcast from Boston, said the Executive Branch would begin instituting measures to address the spread of the disease, including prohibiting international travel on behalf of the state for its 42,000 employees, encouraging the use of telecommunicating and video conferencing where viable, canceling large events and asking workers who are sick or who exposed to the virus to remain home. 
 
The total number of presumptive positives for COVID-19 in the state rose to 92 — double the number on Monday — with seven of those in Berkshire County. 
 
One of the two new cases reported in Berkshire County is an employee of General Dynamics. 
 
The defense company in Pittsfield learned on Monday afternoon that one of its employee had been quarantined and was being treated at a medical facility. Staff who had been in contact with the employee have been asked to "self-quarantine" for two weeks. 
 
Also, North Adams City Councilor Jason LaForest, who is also a nurse, has entered quarantine after being tested for exposure to the novel coronavirus. According to a statement from Mayor Thomas Bernard, LaForest developed "mild symptoms" on Tuesday morning and that the mayor has also elected to work from home after attending "weekend social functions with Councilor LaForest."
 
The first patient in Berkshire County was identified on Saturday after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control lifted some of the restrictions on testing. The first presumptive positive case in the state was a woman in Norfolk County on March 2. 
 
"MEMA has been activated and is bringing together health, human service, public safety and several other government agencies," said the governor. "This working group is following the Department of Public Health infectious disease task force that was stood up in January. ... this declaration will give our administration more flexibility to respond to this outbreak."
 
He said the risks for transmission have increased, noting the Berkshire cases "that just popped."
 
Sudders said the presumptive positive is based on testing from the state Public Health Lab. "Those specimens will now be sent to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention for confirmation," she said. 
 
Of the 92 reported cases, 70 are related to a Biogen conference held in Boston at the end of February and four are travel related. Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders said 18 are under investigation. Six people are hospitalized, 62 are not and 24 are under investigation; 40 are women and 52 are men.
 
Another man from nearby Readsboro, Vt., was hospitalized on Thursday at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington. 
 
COVID-19 first spread in the vicinity of Wuhan, China, where it has so far killed more than 3,000 deaths out of more than 80,000 cases. There are now more than 800 cases identified in the United States and 28 deaths — most of those in the state of Washington.
 
The symptoms include fever, severe cough and respiratory distress. At least 80 percent of those contracting the disease will recover with the severity of the illness ranging from hospitalization to minor or no symptoms. Those most at risk are individuals age 60 and older or who have underlying medical conditions. 
 
Officials said the coronavirus is apparently spreading through person-to-person contact now, beyond any direct correlations to travel or the conference. 
 
Because the outbreak is "rapidly expanding" through community transmission, said Commissioner of Public Health Dr. Monica Bharel, "we are at a critical point in this outbreak ... we will need everybody's cooperation."
 
The governor applauded the decision by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh on Tuesday to cancel the St. Patrick's Day Parade but said it's too early yet to consider the Boston Marathon that is a month away. He said private enterprises should consider how they will address situations such as sporting events, conferences and large gatherings. 
 
Local organizations are making decisions on how to prevent the spread of the disease. The town of Clarksburg shut down its public buildings on Sunday to allow them to be cleaned and sanitized after it was learned the first Berkshire County came from that town. 
 
General Dynamics has instituted measures including cleaning and disinfecting work areas and common spaces used by the affected employees, "who was in the facility for several days out of the last two weeks," according to a statement from the company. 
 
"The Pittsfield facility remains open for business. We are working closely with officials from Berkshire County to keep them apprised of our proactive measures. The health and safety of our employees, our Navy partners, and our community is our top priority," said Carlo Zaffanella, vice president and general manager of Maritime and Strategic Systems for General Dynamics Mission Systems.
 
The Berkshire Food Project, which feeds dozens of people lunch every week day in North Adams, posted on Facebook that it would be "sanitizing tables a lot" and rearranging them to reduce the number of people sitting together in close proximity.
 
"We are trying to be overly cautious because we care about everyone who dines with us," the post states, adding that "we will be happy to provide your meal to go if you are concerned about congregating in our dining room for a meal."
 
The North Adams Public Schools and McCann Technical School were disinfected by fogging devices over the weekend. Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art "is actively following CDC recommendations," according to its website, which includes "cleaning of touch surfaces, deployment of more hand-disinfectant stations, and encouragement of frequent hand washing, and hygienic 'sneeze and cough' etiquette."
 
The vast museum may be large enough to allow browsing while still keeping the recommended social distancing of 6 feet to prevent transmission. 
 
Bharel said the highly contagious virus can be spread through surfaces, personal contact and through droplets from coughing and sneezing. 

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Main & Mill: A Vibrant New Restaurant on Main Street

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — You can now enjoy another eatery on Main Street by well-known restaurant siblings Colleen and Sean Taylor.

Their restaurant Main & Mill opened for the first time Tuesday, bringing their vision of creating something vibrant and new to downtown North Adams.

"We have created Main & Mill to be part of our day. It's very seasonal ingredients, thoughtful cooking, beauty, beautiful presentation and dishes. And we really wanted to be part of the community, the downtown area, and start a vibrant area on this end, which has been shuttered for a while," said Colleen.

The building is owned by Ginko on Main Street LLC, which has granted 20 years exclusive possession of the property to Latent Builds as the developer. Jack and Suzy Wadsworth, behind Ginko, are development partners with Karla Rothstein and Salvatore Perry of Latent.

The bank closed in early 2021 and was purchased by Ginko late that year. Plans for the property unveiled three years ago envisioned a restaurant, retail, a park and rooftop bar. 

Colleen saw potential and said she initially wanted the building when it first went up for sale. Being good friends with Rothstein and Perry, she helped them design the kitchen and the bar before learning in March that she could lease it as a restaurant space, something she told them would be a great idea.

She said one of the most important things about the restaurant was the collaboration between Rothstein, Perry, and the Wadsworths, who put a lot of time and energy into the building.

"If Sean and I had done it, we would not be able to do what the collaboration supported. The collaboration of the three of us being able to really have that kind of money to put in down here. The design that the architecture firm that Carla and Sal own is stunning," she said. "The time and effort, everyone came together to do this in a really trusting manner."

The two wanted the restaurant to be an all-day venture, so people could eat at any point throughout the day, all week long.

"We wanted it to be open for coffee and socialization in the morning where people can meet, have their cup of coffee, have a quiche, a vegetarian quiche, or croissant or yogurt. Something intentional with their coffee," she said. "Then move into a lunchtime for the downtown business or anybody, and then go into supper, dinner, with drinks later into the evening. So have it really be open all day long, so that there wasn't a void on any particular day."

They also wanted to do something different than the other restaurants they owned.

"We didn't want to mimic any other restaurant in town. We wanted to bring something that was inspiring, something that had some familiar things that people would see, and other things that we would bring to them for them to experience," she said.

As a woman business owner, Colleen said she wanted to bring a female chef into the kitchen. 

Colleen brought on Chef Anna DeRose, who she said puts twists on a lot of her dishes.

"So we have a creme brulee, but our creme brulee is topped with marshmallow," she said. "Our creme brulee is like almost two desserts in one. It's a s'mores creme brulee. So you could have a s'mores, and you could have a creme brulee - but when you put both of them together, fireworks go off."

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