"It seems like it's been a much more manageable winter," said Dr. James W. Lederer Jr., chief medical officer and chief quality officer at Berkshire Health Systems.
Greta Jochem
Reporter
City health officials say that Pittsfield looks to be on the other side of a holiday surge in coronavirus cases.
Meg Britton-Mehlisch
Pittsfield Reporter
One day last week, the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Berkshire County hit an unusual high. That tally has eased, but questions remain: How severely will a new strain of the virus, known as XBB1.5, affect public health in the region?
The Berkshire Eagle sat down this week with Dr. James Lederer of Berkshire Medical Center to discuss COVID-19 trends, the start of the flu season and what people can do to protect their health.
Aina de Lapparent Alvarez
News Reporter
The Berkshires is the only county in Massachusetts with a high COVID-19 transmission.
Aina de Lapparent Alvarez
News Reporter
NUMBER OF ACTIVE CASES: 41,852 statewide
LATEST NUMBERS
The Berkshire Eagle's weekly recap on key COVID-19 data for Berkshire County and the state.
Massachusetts will distribute 3.5 million at-home COVID tests to cities and towns, which will then be able to make the tests available to residents, and another 1.5 million to food banks.
Massachusetts K-12 students and staff should be tested for COVID-19 before classes resume in September, while government, education and business leaders should outline clear plans for when mask mandates would be triggered if another surge builds, a group of public health experts, labor leaders and community organizers said Monday.
The office said that seven inmates have tested positive and are in isolation and two staff members are positive and quarantining out of work.
Meg Britton-Mehlisch
Pittsfield Reporter
Berkshire County is seeing a small rise in cases. Most are mild and don't reach the hospital.
Aina de Lapparent Alvarez
News Reporter
Citing reduced demand, Berkshire Health Systems says it will no longer offer PCR testing for COVID-19 on the weekends in North Adams and Pittsfield, starting Aug. 15.
The Saturday event at the Marian Fathers on Eden Hill in Stockbridge, organized by the Tri-Town Health Boards, will be hosted by a team of psychiatrists from the Austen Riggs Center, with informal discussion followed by a q-and-a for the public.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says children as young 6 months can be vaccinated. But in Berkshire County, doses can be hard to track down.
Aina de Lapparent Alvarez
News Reporter
Daily COVID-19 caseloads are down 13 percent in the past two weeks; at least one out of five Berkshire residents have been infected since the start of the pandemic.
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Phone threats at three Berkshire high schools prompt large police response, lockdowns
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Clarksburg's first cannabis store set to open by May
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Pittsfield Schools Resource Officers speak of their outlook and concerns
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Cheshire Police are investigating a possible hit-and-run after a two-car crash on Route 8
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Mayor Jennifer Macksey says 'domestic incident' involving former Police Chief Jason Wood was not the reason Wood was relieved of duty