Editor’s note: The following Tri-Town Health Department update was written by Amy Hardt, MPH BSN RN, Lead Public Health Nurse at the Southern Berkshire Public Health Collaborative, and sent out Tuesday, April 26. It has been edited for clarity.
Welcome back to the dashboard — it’s been a few weeks, and we’ll return to weekly reporting while Berkshire County remains in the Medium-Yellow COVID-19 community impact category. We are in the Medium risk category right now largely because of recent increases in reported case numbers, not necessarily due to local COVID-related hospitalizations (though they have gone up slightly). The increase in cases is not terribly surprising; cases never fell as low as we would have liked after the Omicron B.1.1.529 winter surge and have lately been on the rise due to abandoned mitigation strategies like masking and distancing, the waning of vaccine and natural immunity defenses against primary infection, and the continued mutation of this virus into more transmissible forms (I’m looking at you, BA.2/BA.2.12.1).
The month-long increase we’ve seen in Southern Berkshire towns’ reported cases continues but has slowed down the past couple of weeks. Local providers and public health officials may have a different impression, based on patient self-reports and having our ears to the ground. It’s tough to know exactly how things stand with COVID transmission at this point since so few cases are PCR-diagnosed anymore. Last week, concentration of the virus in Pittsfield wastewater samples came down (by 16%) for the first time in over a month, so that is encouraging. On the other hand, we have seen new infections rise in the 2-3 weeks following holidays and school breaks, so another uptick seems likely.
In environments where most mitigation strategies are no longer used, anyone at high risk for severe COVID disease probably should not reduce their precautions based on reported numbers or data trends just yet. This is a painful reality to acknowledge, and we all need to be sensitive to the social disparities involved. Those of us wanting to be supportive community members, especially if we have loved ones at high risk, have an important role to play in maintaining a protective “bubble” around them: we need to stay up to date with our vaccinations and boosters, be ready to mask and test ourselves whenever new symptoms arise, and help create/advocate for environments that are safe for everyone.
We can all take advantage of the warmer temperatures to do things that have a big impact in reducing local COVID spread: move events outside, open windows, and get vaccinated/boosted (especially kids and young adults, who still have the lowest rates). If you choose to mask, make it count: an N95, KN95, or combination of surgical mask under a well-fitting cloth mask are your best defenses against the spread of COVID-19 at this point. The smallest virus particles (aerosols) can easily get around and through a single cloth or surgical mask.
