Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced on Monday an expansion of free COVID-19 testing in the western part of the state.
The sites set up in the coming weeks will be in Amherst, Greenfield, Great Barrington, Pittsfield and North Adams. They are intended for people with or without virus symptoms.
Some state legislators in the region had pushed the governor for more testing sites. State Representative Mindy Domb of Amherst has been advocating for more testing in western Massachusetts, where the only state-sponsored sites are in Hampden County.
Baker says testing across the state has risen dramatically since the pandemic's early days.
“By the end of December, with this new plan in place, the state will have the capacity to complete 110,000 tests a week, through free testing sites that are sponsored by the Commonwealth,” Baker said, “which represents [a] 50% increase for state-financed and -organized testing sites alone.”
The expansion also includes three new free express testing sites in Framingham, New Bedford and Lynn that will be able to test 1,000 people a day.
"All of these sites will be able to deal with the fact that it’s getting colder, and winter is coming," Baker said.
The Amherst site will be operated in conjunction with UMass at the Mullins Center. The university says it will offer appointment-only testing four days a week until late January, and on a more limited basis once classes resume.
Baker also said there is pressure on Massachusetts hospitals amid a "rapid increase" in COVID-19 cases in the wake of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Beginning Friday, hospitals will "curtail" inpatient elective procedures that can be safely postponed.
The governor also said his administration was reviewing the post-Thanksgiving data and considering additional restrictions that might be necessary, and would have more to say "soon."
Baker said the rise in infections is not only filling available bed space, but leading to shortages in frontline health care staff who have either contracted the virus or been exposed.
"We can't afford to continue straining the hospital system at this rate," Baker said.
Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders said the curtailment of elective procedures will be limited to inpatient treatments and procedures that impact inpatient capacity, and not outpatient surgeries or appointments for mammograms, regular pediatric checkups or other services.
This story includes reporting from Matt Murphy of the State House News Service.
