Return to Normalcy Makes Pittsfield COVID Rates Rise

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A return to normalcy has caused COVID-19 cases to rise in the city but health officials are not alarmed.

During Tuesday's City Council meeting, Director of Public Health Andy Cambi compared metrics from this summer and last summer.  

On Monday the percent positivity rate was 12.5 and the average case rate was 36.1 cases per 100,000. On the same day last year, the percent positivity rate was 2.4 and the average case rate was 11.1 cases per 100,000.

"What we're seeing this summer around is that we did see a slight increase in the daily cases in the couple of months that you had, June and July," he said.

"Nothing that caused concern for me to say, 'OK, we need to reconvene and we need to issue mask mandates or shut down businesses.' I think the difference this summer was we returned to more to normal activities, we had the great Fourth of July parade, we had a lot of gatherings, we had a lot of less restrictive travel."

Cambi added that because of this, the city started seeing "much higher" numbers than in the summer of 2021.  

Though the metrics have increased, patients haven't. There were around 10 hospitalizations this time last summer and that number remains roughly the same. There are currently 13 patients hospitalized at Berkshire Medical Center with the virus.


For the most part, the city has remained in the red incidence rate for transmission since late last year.  There was some reprieve in spring when Pittsfield briefly dropped into the yellow. 

Because the state's Stop the Spread program that provided free PCR tests to everyone was scaled back, people are now testing from home more frequently. Because of this, the city's Biobot sewage testing is said to be the most accurate representation of the virus' prominence.

Last year there were about 92.3 thousand copies per liter of the virus in the sewage and on Monday there were 1.1 million copies per liter.

"I think it's important to take a look at what we're seeing this past couple of days because we've seen a steep incline in the virus concentration that doubled in the copies per liter," Cambi said, adding that residents need to be prepared to take proper precautions if necessary.

He urged eligible residents to get a booster shot for their COVID-19 vaccinations and pointed out that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control created a booster tool to assist in the process.

Cambi also announced that the city has hired Gabrielle DiMassimo as a community health worker who will also help with contact tracing and that the expiration for at-home test kits was extended.


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Companion Corner: Cali and Kyzer at The Berkshire Humane Society

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There's a bonded dog pair awaiting a new family at the Berkshire Humane Society.

Kyzer and Cali are both poodles. Kyzer is the male and is 7 years old, a quite a bit bigger than his sister Cali, who is a miniature of Kyzer and 8 years old.

Canine adoption counselor Rhonda Cyr introduced us to the two.

"They came from a household that couldn't hold on to them, and it sounds like they may have been abandoned by their previous owner with somebody else, and so they came to us looking for a new home," she said.

The two love to be around you and snuggle. But both are very happy dogs.

"Kyzer is 7 years old, and his personality is that he kind of wants to be in everything. He's very loving, very snuggly, as you can tell. And Callie here, she's 8 years old, and she is kind of like the life of the party," said Cyr. "She wants to tell you everything about her day, and she's a little bit of a little ham."

The two are considered seniors and really like soft treats as Cali just had a few teeth removed and Kyzer has a tooth procedure coming up.

"Currently, they really like soft treats, because they are both on the senior side of things. So they have had some dental work, so they are really in need of something softer. They are not big chewers at this age, really, their main focus right now is just really socializing and cuddling," Cyr said.

The two would love a quiet home with someone who wants to snuggle. They shouldn't go to a home with bigger dogs but if you have a dog, you can bring them in for a visitation with the poodles to see if they will get along. Cats will be fine and the preference is for older and more responsible children so that the pups don't get hurt, as they are senior citizens.

"The perfect home for them would be a quiet home that's not too active. Like I said, they're very social, so they could handle some visitors," she said. "They're very friendly, but I don't think that they would really enjoy any other dogs in the home."

Poodles need to be regularly groomed, and the prospective adopter will have to keep an eye on their health. Kyzer has a heart murmur that needs to be monitored. This doesn't mean he is in bad health, as he could live a perfectly normal life, but he will need to be checked by a veterinary specialist routinely.

"Ideally, he would go to a home that could provide further health care with a specialist in cardiac care. And you know, he could very well live out the rest of his life comfortably and happy," Cyr said. "We just don't have all that information at the moment, but I think that you know the way he's going right now. He's got a good spirit, and he seems to be pretty happy."

The shelter is hoping the to get them a home for the holidays.

"We would love to get them a home in time for the holidays. They've been here since the eighth of November, and they're really, really looking as much as the staff loves them here, we're really looking to get them into a home and somewhere nice and cozy so they can spend the rest of their life together," she said.

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