Pittsfield Continues to Recover from Holiday COVID Surge

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
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PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city is seeing a slight increase in COVID-19 cases from last week but metrics are still much lower than the height of the holiday surge.

As of Sunday, the percent positivity rate was 8.6 percent, up from 7.7 on Feb. 24, and the average case rate is 48.4 cases per 100,000 people, up from 45.8 on February 24.

There were 10 new cases reported Sunday and about 60 actively contagious cases in Pittsfield. Seven people were hospitalized at Berkshire Medical Center with the virus, 75 percent of them being unvaccinated.

Around mid-January, the cases were a staggering 18.6 percent and the daily cases per 100,000 were 281.5.

The city remains in the red incidence rate for transmission but at last week's Board of Health meeting, Director of Public Health Andy Cambi revealed that the way things are going, the city will likely reach the 5 percent positivity rate threshold within the next few weeks.  

A 5 percent or lower positivity rate will push the city into the yellow incidence rate.

With updated guidance from the state, the city has changed its mask policy and the schools will either lift the mask mandate in the second or third week of March.


Last week, the Board of Health voted to move the city's masking directive implemented in November to a masking advisory.

The advisory will match the state Department of Public Health's guidance that was updated on Feb. 15.  It suggests that a fully vaccinated person should wear a mask indoors if they have a weakened immune system, are at increased risk for severe disease because of age or an underlying medical condition, or if someone in the household has a weakened immune, increased risk, or is unvaccinated.

Superintendent Joseph Curtis also released a timeline to transition out of masking that he said is a compromise of conversations with the community and polling data.

There are two possible dates for the requirement to lift, based on case numbers when students return to school next week:

If all schools remain open with safe staffing levels and COVID-19 case counts don't rise above previously documented counts between Feb. 28 and March 4, the mandate will be lifted on Monday, March 7.

If schools have to close due to inadequate staffing levels or rising case counts between Feb. 28 and March 4, the lifting will be delayed until Monday, March 14.


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Truck Crashes Into Pittsfield's Samel's Deli

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

Elm Street will be partially closed as cleanup continues. 

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Wednesday morning was busy for Pittsfield first responders, as a pickup truck crashed into Samel's Deli & Catering and a fire broke out on First Street.

Around 9:45 a.m., the police reported that the street in front of Samel's Deli & Catering would be closed or down to one lane as a result of a two-car collision that sent the truck careening into the deli.

The department posted two photos on Facebook, one depicting the silver truck with New York license plates crashed through the glass of the front entrance and another of a white Honda CR-V with significant damage to the front end.

"A vehicle was coming out of one of the alleyways here and struck this truck, which continued into the building," Police Officer Craig Jones explained when iBerkshires arrived on the scene.

Jones reported that there was one injury but whether it was someone in the vehicles or in the deli. A crossing signal near Samel's front entrance was also taken out by the truck.

Around this time, crews worked to clear debris in front of the restaurant as the truck was towed away. That section of the road reopened around 11 a.m.

The police, firefighters and an ambulance responded to the accident and police intend to release a statement on the incident.

Around 6:15 a.m., the Fire Department reported that it had responded to a possible structure fire at 233-235 First St. Windows on all three floors of the multi-family building are now broken or boarded up and the cause is under investigation by the Fire Investigation Unit and investigators from the State Fire Marshal's Office.

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