Pittsfield COVID Rates Slightly Higher Than Thanksgiving

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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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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Berkshire Athenaeum Seed Library Open for the Season

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

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.
 
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