Oct. 31: 260 cases; 6 deaths
It is âclosing dayâ for PortSmittâs Lakeway Restaurant, the family-run eatery that has fallen victim to the economic pressures of the coronavirus pandemic. Transmission occurs at PortSmittâs on this day, as well as during the preceding few days.
Meanwhile, approximately 20 people arrive at a Pittsfield residence where, health leaders say, there was a Halloween party and masks were not worn consistently indoors. Transmission occurs.
Nov. 3: 269 cases; 6 deaths
The Brick House Pub in Housatonic elects to shut temporarily, after one of its servers learned that others who had attended the same Halloween party had tested positive. The server would go on to test positive, too.
An apparent discrepancy has emerged in the public reporting of coronavirus cases at two long-term care facilities in Lee. In a report dated Dec. 18, Next Step Healthcare â the facilitiesâ parent company â listed two cases at Lee Healthcare and one at The Landing at Laurel Lake.
The stateâs Dec. 18 daily report listed between one and four cases among Lee Healthcare residents but no cases among residents or staff for The Landing at Laurel Lake. Dec. 19 and Dec. 20 state reports said there were no cases among residents or staff at either facility. The stateâs website says the reports feature data from the previous day.
BY THE NUMBERS: Berkshire Countyâs death toll rose by one on Monday to 120. The confirmed COVID-19 case count climbed 37 to 2,482, the state Department of Public Health said.
The DPH said 41 new deaths were reported in Massachusetts, pushing the statewide total to 11,506. Deaths including those listed as probably caused by COVID-19 is 11,759. Confirmed cases rose 3,760 to 314,850. The stateâs surge in cases is made clear by this statistic: More than one-tenth of the total number of confirmed cases to date in Massachusetts were confirmed in just the last week.
According to data provided by Johns Hopkins University, 206,843 people in Massachusetts with COVID-19 have recovered.
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.