With Halloween Around the Corner, Pittsfield COVID Cases Decrease

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
02:02PM / Friday, October 21, 2022Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With Halloween weekend a week away, COVID-19 cases are decreasing.

Last week, Director of Public Health Andy Cambi reported that the city was experiencing a "mini" COVID-19 surge. Around this time, the community impact dashboard reported an over 12 percent positivity rate, over 41 daily cases per 100,000, and around 100 estimated actively contagious cases.

On Wednesday, the positivity rate was 10.4, there were 33.6 daily cases per 100,000 and 81 actively contagious cases.

There were 12 hospitalizations reported at Berkshire Medical Center on this day compared to the 18 reported cases early last week.

Cambi said that the city’s Biobot sewage testing is the most accurate way to get a gauge of COVID impact on the community, as the other metrics don’t include at-home tests.

The virus concentration halfway through this week was 1.8 million copies per liter, while it was over two million copies per liter at the beginning of last week.

Last week, the public health director reported that the city is trying to get the Bivalent booster in-house and working with the state to offer it through small clinics. This booster contains a component of the original virus strain and a component of the omicron variant to provide better protection against the virus.

The city has been in the red incidence rate, which is the highest, for a number of months.

Parties and festivals have fully returned from hibernation during the height of the pandemic, the historic Pittsfield Halloween parade being one of the biggest comebacks.

This will be the 76th Halloween parade in the city after its two-year absence.

Tags: COVID-19, Halloween,

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Pittsfield Seeks CPA Funds for Bike Racks, AED

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
07:17PM / Sunday, October 25, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city plans to apply for Community Preservation Act funds for park bike racks and an AED machine at the pickleball fields.

On Tuesday, the Parks Commission endorsed Pittsfield’s applications for CPA funds.

"Both of those projects are certainly, relative to CPA funds, low cost but high benefit," Commissioner Anthony DeMartino said.

Through CPA, bike racks are proposed for a few city parks, and the Berkshire Mountain Pickleball league is looking to place an automatic external defibrillator at the Benedict Avenue pickleball fields.

Parks, Open Space, and Natural Resources Manager James McGrath and Recreation & Special Events Coordinator Jennifer VanBramer presented the two small project applications, which will go through an eligibility period before full consideration in the spring of 2027.

During the city’s free, six-week, summer playground program, it was observed that many kids access parks by bicycle. The plan is to buy between six and eight racks to be placed at Durant Park, the Common, and Clapp Park; other parks are being considered as well.

McGrath explained that the three parks hosting the playground program don’t have bike racks, and they wind up on the ground and sometimes become a distraction.

"The ancillary benefit to having bike racks is that it encourages that mode of transportation for folks that want to come to the park on their bike," he said.

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