David Kolis had chills, a high fever and a deep cough as he drove himself to the hospital this month.
A week into the 63-year-oldâs fight with COVID-19, his doctor called to tell him there was something that might help. Monoclonal antibodies therapy, a treatment that President Donald Trump received during his illness, finally was available for widespread emergency use. And Kolis was eligible.
âI was very sick,â Kolis said. âAny help I couldâve got was well-appreciated.â
The therapy would try to give his immune system an assist by mimicking the natural antibodies that he would produce over the course of the illness.
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.
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.
BHS to begin staff vaccinations Thursday; nursing homes to follow this month berkshireeagle.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from berkshireeagle.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
STOCKBRIDGE â The Rev. Walter Gurgul, an ordained priest for 60 years who spent a year in a Soviet labor camp during World War II, before his family made a harrowing escape, died Dec. 6 at the age of 90.
Gurgul, a member of the Marian Fathers, had lived and ministered at the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy in Stockbridge. He died at Berkshire Medical Center, after spending his final year at Kimball Farms in Lenox, where he marked the 60th anniversary of his ordination July 4.
The Marian Fathers did not disclose the cause of Gurgulâs death, but he had been in poor health for the past few years.