Pittsfield Hospitalization Rates Not Spiking During Omicron Surge

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The omicron variant has presented a historically high spike in cases but hospitalization rates are not so far surging in response.

During a COVID-19 update at Tuesday's City Council meeting, Director of Public Health Andy Cambi reported that there are 25 people hospitalized at Berkshire Medical Center for the virus and that a large number of these patients are unvaccinated.

"While we have seen the rise in cases tremendously with omicron, the hospital census has remained in the lower end compared to what we saw before," he said, comparing the current rates to those at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020.

Cambi displayed a chart that compared normalized hospital distribution between the vaccinated and unvaccinated in Pittsfield. With the omicron variant, the unvaccinated rank much higher on the chart than those who are.  

Currently, 73 percent of the city's residents are fully vaccinated and 85 percent have had at least one dose (this may include the one-dose J&J vaccine, which counts as fully vaccinated).

"So what we can make of this is that receiving the vaccine has done a lot to help protect our community," Cambi said. "We can see that in the data that we have here from the hospital census."

Pittsfield's average case rate per 100,000 is 244.9, a metric that has sharply risen since Christmas. The positivity rate is 18.8 percent, close to the highest positivity rate of 19.2 that occurred in early April 2020.

There are currently 716 estimated actively contagious cases in the city and there were 114 new cases on Monday. This is an improvement from Friday when there were 163 new cases, the highest daily case rate in the history of the pandemic.

Hospitals across the state this week were preparing to differentiate reporting on novel coronavirus cases based on whether patients were admitted because of or related to COVID-19 or were admitted for unrelated reasons and tested positive. All hospital admissions are being tested for the virus. 

Marchetti Details Six Months of 'Going Bold' at 1Berkshire Lunch

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:47AM / Monday, June 10, 2024

1Berkshire President and CEO Jonathan Butlers says the relationship between the business community and the new Pittsfield mayor is off to a good start. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Six months in, Mayor Peter Marchetti detailed his progress in plans to "go bold or go home" during a 1Berkshire luncheon last week.

"My motto over the past six months as some members of the [Pittsfield Economic Development Authority]and my business development director has heard, we're going to go bold, or we are going to go home," he said to a crowd of more than 120 at the Proprietor's Lodge on Wednesday.

"I have four years to make a difference. And I plan on making that difference in four years."

President & CEO Jonathan Butler said the relationship between the business community and elected leaders is critical to making progress and collective success.

"In the case of Mayor Marchetti, this relationship is already off to a strong start. The mayor comes into this position with a deep understanding of the importance of partnerships and the value of bringing different voices together to solve problems," he said.

"Additionally, the mayor's dual background of coming from a career in business, while also serving many years on the City Council and other public roles gives him a unique understanding of the importance of quality dialogue and partnership between the city and his business community."

Marchetti reported that the city's business development team is working on five sets of business prospects — including the first developer for Site 9 at the William Stanley Business Park. The 16 1/2-acre parcel has been a "blighted and sore spot in the community for many decades" but began its journey toward revitalization this year.

"I'm working with a Pittsfield Development Authority board to work on securing the future developer for this site and surrounding places and hoping that we'd be able to make that announcement very soon, as the negotiations are well underway," he said.