BY THE NUMBERS: Berkshire County saw six new COVID-19 deaths, for a new total of 172 deaths since the pandemic began, with the confirmed case count up 52 to 3,733,
PITTSFIELD â Before schools can reopen, the city must first see a dramatic turnaround in COVID-19 infections and test positivity rates.
That was the message from Mayor Linda Tyer on Tuesday at the yearâs first City Council meeting â a sprawling Zoom session that stretched past midnight â in which she cited an âenormousâ increase in COVID-19 infections this past fall and winter.
And while there was a decline in cases in mid-December, infections have surged once again and the city is ânow back on the upward trend,â she said.
âIn fact, last week we had 200 new cases in a five-day period,â she said, adding that the city is currently in the red âhigh riskâ designation for the coronavirus.
MORE VACCINES ON WAY: In a shift, the federal government is freeing up vaccines for distribution to states, rather than holding them in reserve. U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary
PITTSFIELD â To Maura Brennan, the countryâs âsilver tsunamiâ is a good thing.
As a geriatrician at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, Brennan works with the elderly on a daily basis. In Brennanâs personal life, her elderly mother lived long enough to celebrate at her daughterâs wedding.
âShe still had an enormous amount to contribute at that time,â Brennan said. âThatâs a success, that we have increasing numbers of people, frequently in good health, surviving to advanced ages.â
The question, Brennan says, is how to care for the growing number of older Americans. While the U.S. elderly population is expected to swell by tens of millions in the next few decades, projections show that the number of geriatricians will increase only modestly, creating a massive deficit in high-quality elder care.
With this daily feature, The Eagle runs down breaking local developments in the coronavirus crisis.
The DPH said 77 new deaths were reported in Massachusetts, pushing the statewide total to 12,875. Confirmed cases rose 5,396 to 413,329.
NUMBER OF ACTIVE CASES: 90,567 statewide.
WESTERN MASS. PICTURE: The case totals (and death counts) in neighboring counties: Franklin, up 20 to 1,458 (93); Hampshire, up 64 to 4,553 (up 1 to 209); Hampden, up 394 to 30,270 (up 8 to 1,101).
MONEY IN THE MAIL: Attorney General Maura Healey says sheâs heard of cases in which residents of long-term care facilities did not get pandemic relief payments. So the stateâs top law enforcement official issued a reminder Friday that stimulus checks sent to residents of nursing homes belong to residents, not their caretakers.