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COVID-19 Antibody Treatment Made 'Significant Difference' At Pittsfield Nursing Home

The main entrance to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 2017.
Shannon Young
/
The Republican / masslive.com
The main entrance to Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 2017.

A rehab and nursing facility in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, has had one of the largest COVID-19 outbreaks in Berkshire County, according to the city health department.

The Springside Rehabilitation and Skilled Care Center said it has 52 residents and 28 staff members testing positive, and that an additional 29 residents and 10 staff have recovered so far, and/or completed isolation.

Patricia Tremblay, the public health nurse coordinator of the Pittsfield Health Department, said 10 residents from the facilty have died during the outbreak. But she said Springside acted quickly to treat residents.

"It looks like about 14 that were really pretty ill had the monoclonal antibody treatment done, and it seems to have made a significant difference," she said.

Tremblay said residents who tested positive are isolated in one wing, and those who have been exposed are quarantined in another. She said the facility has also closed staff break room areas to minimize contact so employees are not eating together.

The National Guard has assisted Springside with care, providing one physician, along with EMTs and medics.

Springside is managed by BaneCare, which runs a dozen nursing facilities in the state.

Nancy Eve Cohen is a former NEPM senior reporter whose investigative reporting has been recognized with an Edward R. Murrow Regional Award for Hard News, along with awards for features and spot news from the Public Media Journalists Association (PMJA), American Women in Radio & Television and the Society of Professional Journalists.

She has reported on repatriation to Native nations, criminal justice for survivors of child sexual abuse, linguistic and digital barriers to employment, fatal police shootings and efforts to address climate change and protect the environment. She has done extensive reporting on the EPA's Superfund cleanup of the Housatonic River.

Previously, she served as an editor at NPR in Washington D.C., as well as the managing editor of the Northeast Environmental Hub, a collaboration of public radio stations in New York and New England.

Before working in radio, she produced environmental public television documentaries. As part of a camera crew, she also recorded sound for network television news with assignments in Russia, Guatemala, Mexico, Cuba and in Sarajevo during the war in Bosnia.
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