BY THE NUMBERS: Berkshire County saw two new COVID-19 deaths as of Thursday, for a new total of 192 deaths, with the confirmed case count up 38 to 4,161, the
PITTSFIELD Berkshire hospital executives and public health officials have joined together to develop a streamlined vaccination plan for later phases of the rollout, which could see as many as
MARIAN FATHERS HIT BY VIRUS: An outbreak of 17 COVID cases has been reported at the Marians of the Immaculate Conception, the Catholic male congregationâs National Shrine on Prospect Hill in Stockbridge. âEveryone is following COVID safety guidelines and complying with isolation and quarantine standards,â said James Wilusz, executive director of the Tri-Town Health Department covering Lee, Lenox and Stockbridge.
With this daily feature, The Eagle runs down breaking local developments in the coronavirus crisis.
At the departmentâs request, County Ambulance was called in last week for on-site testing for the virus. Wilusz credited Brian Andrews, president of the Pittsfield-based ambulance service, for stepping up to assist.
PITTSFIELD â Berkshire Health Systems struggled financially in fiscal 2020 due to COVID-19. With the pandemic still raging, management is bracing for what could be another difficult and challenging year.
The high costs of COVID-related care, the state-mandated shutdown when the pandemic hit and inconsistencies in patient volume caused the countyâs largest employer to absorb systemwide losses that exceeded $65 million in fiscal 2020, according to figures released by BHS. Supplemental funding from federal and state agencies helped, but still, BHS recorded a $35 million deficit.
âFrom a financial standpoint, 2020 was, by far, the worst year we have ever experienced,â management stated in a letter sent to all BHS employees last month.
ANOTHER MILESTONE: As of Tuesday, the United States has seen more than 400,000 deaths due to COVID-19. That milestone came almost exactly one year after the first case of the