PITTSFIELD â More than 1,000 health care workers have been vaccinated across the county, as Berkshire Health Systems speeds through its first allocated doses.
The hospital system plans to finish its first shipment by the end of day Wednesday, just one week after the vaccine arrived, according to spokesperson Michael Leary.
Hospital officials do not know when its second shipment will arrive and whether BHS might be impacted by Gov. Charlie Bakerâs announcement that the state will receive 20 percent fewer doses from the federal government than expected. Leary said it also is unclear whether the second shipment will contain the Pfizer vaccine or the newly approved Moderna vaccine.
PITTSFIELD â More than 1,000 health care workers have been vaccinated across the county, as Berkshire Health Systems speeds through its first allocated doses.
The hospital system plans to finish its first shipment by the end of day Wednesday, just one week after the vaccine arrived, according to spokesperson Michael Leary.
Hospital officials do not know when its second shipment will arrive and whether BHS might be impacted by Gov. Charlie Bakerâs announcement that the state will receive 20 percent fewer doses from the federal government than expected. Leary said it also is unclear whether the second shipment will contain the Pfizer vaccine or the newly approved Moderna vaccine.
HILLCREST DEATHS: The number of residents killed by the coronavirus inside the Hillcrest Commons Nursing & Rehabilitation Center has hit 40. Lisa Gaudet, a spokeswoman for the centerâs owner, Berkshire Healthcare Systems, said that as of Friday, Hillcrest had lost 40 residents. It reports that 15 residents are positive, with 106 resident having recovered. Of staff, 18 are positive and 59 have recovered.
At Kimball Farms Nursing Care Center in Lenox, also owned by Berkshire Healthcare, 15 residents have died. As of Friday, 14 residents were positive for COVID-19 and 24 had recovered, according to Gaudet. Seven staff at Kimball Farms are positive and eight have recovered.
Meantime, cases have been rising at Williamstown Commons, which saw 24 deaths last spring. As of Friday, that nursing center had 22 active cases among residents and one among staff. No one has died of the disease there amid the recent surge in cases.
BY THE NUMBERS: Berkshire Countyâs death toll climbed by six over the weekend, rising two on Saturday and four on Sunday to reach a total of 101. The confirmed COVID-19 case count rose 30 on Saturday and 24 on Sunday to hit 2,252, the state Department of Public Health said.
The DPH said 41 new deaths were reported Sunday in Massachusetts, pushing the statewide total to 11,098. Deaths including those listed as probably caused by COVID-19 is 11,349. Confirmed cases rose 4,677 to 279,574 since the pandemic began. According to data provided by Johns Hopkins University, at least 187,221 people in Massachusetts with COVID-19 have recovered.
NUMBER OF ACTIVE CASES: 70,651 statewide â more than the number of people who live in Northampton and Holyoke combined; 782 active cases in Pittsfield; 373 households in quarantine in Pittsfield.
Within a few weeks, 75 percent of its residents were infected with the novel coronavirus and 32 had died. Hillcrest has now accounted for nearly 80 percent of all deaths from the virus in Pittsfield. Lisa Gaudent, vice president of Berkshire Healthcare Systems, which operates Hillcrest along with 14 other long-term care centers, said the past weeks have been painful for both residents and staff members who care for them. Imagine losing members of your family one right after the other over a period of a couple of weeks, she said. That would be devastating for anybody and it s devastating for our families and it s also devastating for our staff.