Five area towns are in the state’s “red,” or highest-risk, category this week because of a surge in numbers of positive COVID-19 cases, according to its weekly report.
Greenfield, Montague, Deerfield and Orange in Franklin County and Athol in the North Quabbin region saw numbers of cases rise over the past two weeks. The state reports that Greenfield has 134 cases, Montague has 46, Deerfield has 36, Orange has 26 and Athol has 78 cases. There are currently only three towns reporting zero cases: Hawley, Monroe and New Salem. State numbers can lag, so the numbers in each town could be off some.
Whately and Shutesbury were in the “green,” or lower-risk, category as of Thursday night, with both reporting 11 cases, and Sunderland was in the “yellow,” or higher-risk, category, one level down from “red,” with 18 cases. Nineteen of the 27 towns are in the “gray,” or low-risk, category. Their numbers range from eight cases in Bernardston and Erving to seven in Conway and Gill to six in Buckland and Northfield. All other towns report five or less cases.
Lisa White, Franklin County’s public health nurse with the Cooperative Public Health Service of Franklin Regional Council of Governments, said she has seen 90 cases over the past two weeks throughout the 15 towns that are members of the cooperative, not including Greenfield or Montague. She said indoor gatherings are mostly responsible for the new cases.
“The virus spreads so easily inside,” she said.
“We’ve been following a cluster of under 20 people who were at an indoor gathering,” she said when answering a question about a recent indoor gathering at the Polish American Club in South Deerfield. She said there have been other clusters in Franklin County.
White said public health officials have been doing a lot of contact tracing so they can identify and either isolate or quarantine and test people who have been exposed.
“There are some people in the area who have gotten pretty sick from this,” she said, “especially people with serious health risks.”
White said numbers have slowed slightly over the past couple days, so health officials have been a little hopeful, but with the holidays quickly approaching, they fear that will change and numbers will skyrocket again.
“We want people to understand they have to stay within small household groups, not travel and definitely not attend large gatherings,” she said. “We want people to keep their spirits up, but in safe ways. These are tough times, we know.”
So far, three deaths have been reported during a second surge in local nursing homes — all three at Quabbin Valley Healthcare in Athol, while Charlene Manor Extended Care in Greenfield reported earlier this week that 44 of its residents and 18 staff members have tested positive. Quabbin Valley Healthcare also reported that 23 of its residents and 19 of its staff have tested positive.
Charlene Manor has not reported any deaths during the second surge, and Poet’s Seat Health Care in Greenfield, Farren Care Center in Montague City and Buckley Healthcare Center in Greenfield had all reported no cases as of Thursday night.
The local hospital reported on Thursday that 13 people hospitalized in Greenfield have tested positive for COVID-19. Baystate Medical Center in Springfield is currently caring for 22 people in its critical care unit. There are 165 people hospitalized throughout the entire system.
In Greenfield, Mayor Roxann Wedegartner said the city continues to be diligent about asking its residents to wear masks in public, wash their hands frequently, socially distance themselves and following any other protocol to keep themselves safe. She said she hopes people don’t gather in large groups during the holidays.
Greenfield Interim Health Director Jennifer Hoffman said Thanksgiving was followed by a significant rise in the number of positive cases and those numbers continue to rise.
“It’s three weeks later and we’re seeing numbers still rise,” she said. “We can only imagine what will happen after Christmas and New Year’s — those numbers could keep rising into mid January. It’s of great concern to many public health officials.”
Wedegartner said the city recently closed all municipal offices to the public to help stop the spread and keep everyone, including employees safe. Montague announced earlier this week that it did the same.
For more information or for the state’s weekly numbers, visit bit.ly/2K5xhuV.
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-9591 or afritz@recorder.com.