The number of COVID-19 cases across Franklin County remained steady or decreased again this week, according to data reported by the Franklin Regional Council of Governments (FRCOG) and state Department of Public Health.
Greenfield reported 189 positive cases, three more than last week. At least 37 of the city’s 44 COVID-19-related deaths have come from its three nursing homes.
Greenfield has reported the most cases, with Orange and Montague following with 35 and 25 cases, respectively. That’s an increase of one new confirmed case in Orange and two in Montague since last week. The majority of Franklin County towns have reported five or fewer cases. Bernardston, Buckland, Deerfield, Erving, Shelburne and Sunderland all have under 10.
In the North Quabbin region, Athol reports 46 confirmed COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic, while Petersham reports seven, Phillipston reports 15 and Royalston reports fewer than five. FRCOG does not report on those four towns.
FRCOG releases updated numbers on its website, frcog.org, every Thursday by 4 p.m. FRCOG Director of Community Services Phoebe Walker has explained the agency reports a range for five or fewer cases in a town, while exact numbers are reported for any number of cases greater than five. She said the capacity to track numbers varies significantly from town to town.
Buckland and Shelburne have both reported one death since the beginning of the pandemic. Cumulative positive cases in Shelburne, at eight, have not increased in a few weeks and Buckland reports one more since last week for a total of nine.
The state Department of Public Health also releases town-by-town information each week on Wednesday. However, the state does not provide information on recoveries and deaths in individual towns like FRCOG does.
FRCOG’s website also provides 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. More information, including an interactive map, can be found at: bit.ly/2ZjRTom.
The state reports numbers from hospitals, but Baystate Health also reports its numbers daily. By mid-week, Baystate said as a system it has tested 11,122 people since the beginning of the pandemic, and of those tested, 9,457 have come back negative and 1,599 (or 14.4 percent) have tested positive for COVID-19. As of Wednesday, 66 test results were pending.
Baystate Franklin Medical Center reported zero confirmed positives this week, with three people under investigation for the virus. Those numbers have remained steady for at least three weeks.
A Baystate spokesperson said expanded testing has allowed the hospital system to identify more cases within its communities and take steps to limit transmission.
The state is doing biweekly audits of Greenfield’s long-term care facilities and Farren Care Center in Turners Falls to determine what kind of state funding they receive during the pandemic.
As of Wednesday, all four facilities, Farren Care Center, Buckley HealthCare Center, Charlene Manor Extended Care Facility and Poet’s Seat Health Care Center, have scored 28 out of 28 points. A facility must score at least 24 out of 28 points to be considered “in adherence.”
The funding is used to improve safety and infection control. The audit was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, state Department of Public Health and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Licensed nurses and clinical staff trained in infection control perform the audits.
The audit looks at everything from how the facilities screen everyone in the building to testing, how they separate the sick from healthy residents, their plans for limiting transmission of COVID-19, whether congregate spaces are and have been closed during the pandemic, adequate supplies like hand sanitizer and personal protective equipment for staff, and whether there is enough staff and clinical care for residents.
Reach Anita Fritz at 413-772-9591 or afritz@recorder.com.