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 morning, Jan. 4. It has been edited for clarity.
LEE — Below is the most recent 7-day data dashboard, with official state case numbers (PCR tests only) from South County towns from December 26–January 1.
Even with all the hyped-up reporting coverage lately, when I saw these numbers I was a little shocked. Yes, we had already seen steady increases for months and an obvious climb as the winter holidays got going, but the dashboard shows an increase of 2x the new cases over the previous week, and 2.5x growth for Berkshire County overall. Taking a sneak peak in our database at what will be reported for January 2–8, it looks like reported cases rose last week another 70 percent or so in South County. And, we know these reported cases are maybe half the number of actual cases or even less, since there are only so many testing appointments available. Conservatively speaking, experts suggest it will be at least a couple more weeks before new cases peak in the Northeast, and probably a bit longer.
So, if you feel lately that everyone you know has COVID in their home or workplace, that tracks. In lieu of yet another graph breaking it all down by age, vaccination status, clinical symptoms, etc., this week we continue to focus on public health guidance. Because (surprise!) in the middle of that holiday week of astronomical growth, the CDC downshifted their isolation and quarantine requirements, suddenly changing what all of us were expected to do and updating their already overwhelming webpages. MA DPH quickly adopted the changes and made their own attempt at breaking it down. Many people want a simple explanation to have on hand, but aren’t finding it.
In response, we offer our own version of the new isolation and quarantine guidance as a table on this week’s dashboard in hopes it will help a bit. Southern Berkshire Public Health Collaborative nurses (Jill Sweet and me) work hard to find solid answers to the questions we receive from community members by regularly consulting with state epidemiologists and other public health nurses. Lately, we have also been providing free drive-through rapid antigen testing at sites in Sheffield and Lee each week. Click here for more info and an appointment. Drop-ins are also welcome.
Thank you for all you are doing in your local sphere to help stop the spread of Omicron. While most of us will experience the virus nowadays as a short cold/flu (if even that), the havoc it is currently wreaking on our communities and the lives of our most vulnerable residents is real.
