Wingate Facility Reports Three COVID-19 Deaths

Another long-term care facility in the City of Pittsfield has reported coronavirus infections and deaths among its residents. The Berkshire Eagle reports, as part of its “Checkup” for January 7th, that three residents of Wingate Residences at Melbourne Place have succumbed to the virus. That’s according to Wingate Healthcare president Alexandra Schuster. She says their deaths were reported to the city this week.

According to Schuster, 13 residents of the assisted-living center are battling active COVID-19 infections. 26 residents have tested positive for COVID-19 to date. 13 staff members have tested positive for the virus. All of them have since recovered.

The new numbers come on the heels of the newspapers “Checkup” on Thursday which reported that Springside Rehabilitation and Skilled Care Center had 21 residents with active infections and two staff members having tested positive. 33 residents and staff in total have tested positive there since the pandemic began.

As far as Wingate Residences at Melbourne Place, the Eagle reports that according to Dr. Alan Kulberg, chairman of the city’s Board of Health, the facility is testing residents for the coronavirus every three days.

Meanwhile, Berkshire County, as a whole, saw two new COVID-19 deaths as of Thursday, for a new total of 157, with the confirmed case count up 78 to 3,338, according to the state Department of Public Health. 71 new deaths were reported in Massachusetts, pushing the statewide total to 12,634. Confirmed cases rose 7,136 to 393,188. At least 261,672 people in Massachusetts have recovered from COVID-19, according to data provided by Johns Hopkins University.