PITTSFIELD, Mass. — With Hanukkah underway and Christmas in a few days, the city's COVID-19 metrics are slightly higher than they were for Thanksgiving.
The city's Biobot sewage data showed a 1.1 million copies per liter virus concentration over the weekend, compared to the 1 million copies per liter concentration on Thanksgiving day.
Though the number has gone down from 1.9 million copies per liter at the beginning of the month.
Director of Public Health Andy Cambi has indicated that the sewage concentration is the truest indicator of the virus' presence in the community because the other metrics don't include at-home tests.
The average case rate on Tuesday was 24.2 cases per 100,00 people and the positivity rate was 8.1 percent. On Thanksgiving, there were 13.5 cases per 100,000 and the positivity rate was 5.7 percent.
There are around 65 estimated actively contagious cases, nearly double that of Thanksgiving, and 11 hospitalizations at Berkshire Medical center.
On Sunday, there were 20 new cases.
The city remains in the "red zone" for transmission, having more than 10 cases per 100,000 and a positivity rate above 5 percent. It has essentially remained in this category since last year with some reprieve in the spring that put the city in the lesser "yellow zone."
The city has 65 active cases and 15,124 total cases, with 77 percent of residents fully vaccinated. There have been 91 total reported deaths but the city has not had a death related to COVID-19 since mid-October. Berkshire Health Systems has 13 patients who have tested positive. Statewide, the percentage of positive patients being treated primarily for the novel coronavirus has hovered around 30 percent.
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Companion Corner: Fox at Berkshire Humane Society
By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There's a sweet and energetic dog at the Berkshire Humane Society waiting for his new family.
iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home.
Fox is a 3-year-old Pomeranian who has been at the shelter for about a month.
Canine caregiver and adoption counselor Simone Olivieri told us about Fox.
"He's a bundle of joy. He would love a family who's home with him a lot, because he's just, he's very social and wants to be with his people a lot. And he would be fun to bring out and about, bring a lot of places, because he's very happy to go anywhere," she said.
When Fox enters the room he is immediately a puffball of energy that goes around and around the room.
He came to the shelter after his former owner could not take care of him anymore.
"The owner was just not able to care for him anymore. Had he came in with another dog, Wolf, and she already did find her forever home just last week," said Olivieri. "The two of them were left with a friend of the original owner, and the owner did not come back to pick them up, and the friend had too many animals in the house, and too much going on, and she just couldn't continue to look after them, so they did end up coming to us."
Fox can go home with cats and children but is not recommended to go home with other dogs as he gets too excited.
"He would love a home where people are home quite a bit to give him all the attention that he so desires. He loves kids. He absolutely adores children. So he would like a home with kids to play with. He could live with cats. We are saying that he should not live with other dogs. The only reason is that he gets very humpy, and he does not leave the other dogs alone," she said.
With his energy it is recommended he goes to a home that can keep him active whether walks or hikes and even fetch in the yard.
Fox does need to learn more about walking on a leash and has a tendency to mark in the house but he was recently neutered. Olivieri said belly bands will be sent home with whoever adopts him to help prevent marking and managing it.
"He would like an active home. He really does like to go for walks daily. He likes to run around in the yard. He does need a little work on leash walking. He sometimes gets a little tangled still under your feet, and he's learning how to walk on a leash," she said. "So, someone who's got some patience and some time to work on some training with him."
"He also is not fully potty trained, so he does know to go potty outside. However, he will still mark, urinate in the house sometimes, and he might poop here and there in the house."
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