People across the county have found it challenging during the COVID-19 pandemic to access data, including numbers of positive cases and deaths in hospitals, nursing homes and their towns. But now, they can find some answers on the Franklin Regional Council of Governments’ website.
The agency is releasing updated numbers every Thursday by 4 p.m. For instance, today’s numbers show that while Sunderland, Whately and Montague are not releasing detailed information about coronavirus cases in their towns, the other 23 county towns are providing such information along with how many people are quarantined, how many have recovered and how many COVID-19-related deaths there have been.
From Jan. 1 through April 22, Greenfield has had 183 positive cases with 92 people currently isolated or quarantined, 63 recovered and 31 COVID-19-related deaths.
While many other towns have reported five or fewer positive cases, Buckland has reported seven cases with one death. Gill, although it has had five or fewer cases, has reported one death, as have Shelburne and Shutesbury. Montague did report 14 positive cases, but did not share any further information. Sunderland reported seven cases and Whately reported five or less, but did not share any other information about deaths or quarantines. Orange has seen 25 cases, eight recoveries and one death.
FRCOG reports a range for five or less, and exact numbers for anything above five.
FRCOG Director of Community Services Phoebe Walker said the primary goal of the Franklin County Multi-Agency Coordination Center is to create a common operating picture across the 26 towns in Franklin County and the health care facilities that it serves. It is operating virtually for information on COVID-19.
Information, including an interactive map, can be found at bit.ly/2Ksoi3h.
On FRCOG’s website, there is also COVID-19-related information about virtual meetings, city and town updates, and updates from the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region and sheriff, along with others.
The state Department of Public Health also released information this week about local nursing homes. Buckley HealthCare Center, for instance, which has not answered emails or phone calls from the Greenfield Recorder for weeks, has topped 30 cases of COVID-19. The last time Buckley released numbers to the newspaper was in mid-March, when it had identified 17 cases.
The state has begun providing data for nursing homes, rest homes and skilled nursing facilities reporting two or more cases of COVID-19 on a daily basis, with figures updating each day at 4 p.m. The state reports cases in data ranges signifying under 10 reported cases, 10 to 30 reported cases or greater than 30 reported cases at a facility.
The first report, released on Monday, showed all three Greenfield nursing homes — Buckley, Charlene Manor Extended Care and Poet’s Seat Health Care Center — each reporting 10 to 30 cases of the virus. But by Wednesday, new numbers showed Buckley had greater than 30 cases of COVID-19. The nursing home has 120 beds, the report states. Poet’s Seat and Charlene Manor remain within the range of 10 to 30 cases.
The state is also reporting numbers from hospitals, but Baystate Health is also reporting its numbers daily. On Thursday, it reported that Baystate Franklin Medical Center has two COVID-19-confirmed cases and six people are “under investigation.”
To date, the entire Baystate Health system, which includes all five of its hospitals, has tested 4,517 people. There have been 3,507 people who have come back negative, 918 people who have come back positive and 92 tests are pending. Those numbers are cumulative. According to Baystate Health, 300 people, both inpatients and outpatients, are being tested each day. The hospital expects that number will climb as it continues to expand testing.