Pittsfield COVID Rates Remain Low for Thanksgiving

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city for the most part remains on the downward trend from two fall COVID-19 surges as the region enters the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Last week, Director of Public Health Andy Cambi reported to the City Council that Pittsfield is recovering from two fall surges.  He did remind the panel of last year's holiday surge that pushed the city into the red zone and said residents should always be thinking about protecting themselves.

Because other metrics don't include at-home tests, Cambi has indicated that the city's Biobot sewage testing is the truest way to gauge the virus's impact on the community.

The city on Sunday showed a virus concentration of 699,000 copies per liter, which is higher than last week’s concentration of 507,000 copies per liter but lower than the 2.7 million copies per liter that the city showed in mid-October.

Starting the week, there were 15 daily cases per 100,000, down from 15.9 last week and only five new cases reported.

Other metrics have seen a slight increase but remain much lower than the rates in October.

The state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has provided schools with free tests for students and staff to bring home over the weekend. They are being asked to test on Sunday in hopes of avoiding any post-holiday surges. 

The city remains in the "red zone" for transmission, having more than 10 cases per 100,000 and a positivity rate above five 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."

Next week marks the return of the in-person tree lighting, which was not able to happen in 2020 or 2021 due to the pandemic. Last month also saw the return of the city's Halloween parade.

Berkshire Athenaeum Seed Library Open for the Season

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:55PM / Thursday, March 27, 2025

Adult services staff Olivia Bowers and Tom Jorgenson cut the green ribbon on the seed library, opening the program for the season.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Athenaeum hosted a ribbon cutting for the seasonal opening of its seed library on Saturday.

 

The athenaeum has had a seed library since 2018 and last year had 217 program members.

 

"It always gets really great membership," Adult Services and Programming Supervisor Olivia Bowers said, "but we really want to advertise that it's available. It's a resource for free seeds to grow healthy vegetables, grow flower gardens and really enjoy nature in the Berkshires."

 

The seed library is funded by the volunteer organization Friends of the Berkshire Athenaeum, which raises funds for the library programming and needs.

 

People who want to get seeds must have a library card to sign up. 

 

Members are able to sign out up to 10 seed packets for the season but are also encouraged to exchange seeds from what they grow or get.

 

"The idea is that, yes, it actually is a library, you can take things but we also encourage you to bring seeds back to us and we can use those again for next year," Bowers said.