Pittsfield in Low 'Yellow Zone' for COVID-19 Transmission
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is inching closer to entering the green incident rate for COVID-19 transmission after spending months in the "red zone."
Pittsfield has a 2.2 percent 14-day average positivity rate and an average of 14.5 cases per 100,000 people. This puts the city on the low end of the yellow incidence category for its case rate.
The next step down is the green incidence rate, which warrants an average of less than 10 cases per 100,000 people and no more than 10 total cases. The city was last in the "green zone" last summer.
There were 14 new cases on Sunday and there are currently 53 estimated actively contagious cases in the city, which is double last Thursday's number.
As of Monday, there were two people hospitalized in Berkshire Medical Center with COVID-19.
Vaccination numbers have stayed the same with 87 percent of residents having at least one dose and 76 percent being fully vaccinated. To date there have been about 10,300 cases in Pittsfield.
The 14-day average for tests on Sunday was around 313. Stop The Spread testing sites will be discontinued as of April 1, as the state is scaling back on the program.
This includes Pittsfield's site at 505 East St. However, Berkshire Medical Center will still be offering testing but it will no longer be covered by the state, Director of Public Health Andy Cambi clarified during a COVID-19 update to the City Council earlier this month.
Because of the city's low metrics, Cambi will only be giving COVID-19 updates to the council once a month moving forward as opposed to twice a month.
The city reached the yellow incidence rate in the first week of March when the positivity rate dipped to 4.7 percent. At the time, there were 26.2 cases per 100,000.
Around the same time, Superintendent Joseph Curtis announced that mask-wearing is now optional in Pittsfield Public Schools, and in February, the Board of Health voted to move the city's masking directive implemented in November to a masking advisory.
Cases began surging in November and the city entered the red zone late that month. Early that month, the Board of Health voted to implement a mask directive stating that masks should be worn in all publicly accessible indoor spaces in the city unless seated at a table eating food or drink.
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