hill country observerThe independent newspaper of eastern New York, southwestern Vermont and the Berkshires

 

News April 2020

 

A MONTH IN THE HILLS

Virus arrives in region, upending all plans

 

The coronavirus crept into the region stealthily, probably sometime in late February, then burst into public view on the weekend of March 7-8.


That weekend, Vermont officials announced that a patient being treated at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington had the state’s first confirmed case of Covid-19.
A patient at Berkshire Medical Center in Pittsfield also tested positive for the virus that weekend, and the hospital would soon learn that two other patients, who’d independently sought treatment for severe upper respiratory symptoms, were infected too.


Until then, public health officials had said Covid-19 was a risk only to people who had traveled to China or other hot spots abroad or had direct exposure to someone known to have the disease. But none of the patients in the Berkshires and Bennington had any known exposure through travel or personal contacts. Their cases made it clear the virus was now spreading in local communities.


Across the state line in New York, Saratoga County reported its first two Covid-19 cases that weekend: a pharmacist who worked in Glens Falls, and his wife, who had encountered an infected person at a conference in Florida.


Within days, the virus – highly contagious and far more deadly than the seasonal flu – began to upend nearly every facet of life across the Northeast.


In an effort to curb the spread of Covid-19, governors declared states of emergency, closing schools and forcing bars and restaurants to shut down or switch to offering meals only for takeout and delivery.


Soon the governors of New York and Massachusetts, and later Vermont, issued stay-at-home directives urging everyone to avoid going out except for essential tasks like grocery shopping – and to practice “social distancing” by staying at least six feet away from other people in public.
The states ordered non-essential businesses to close, leaving everything from hair salons to shopping malls shuttered. Bans on mass gatherings stopped all concerts and sports events.
Museums, performance spaces and other arts organizations across the region shut down and canceled all public events through mid-April or in some cases mid-May. And as the number of Covid-19 cases in the region continued to rise, some began to reconsider their summer programming. Barrington Stage Company of Pittsfield canceled its first production of the summer season, which had been scheduled for early June. And on March 31, Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival announced that, for the first time in its 88-year history, it would cancel its entire season, which normally runs from late June through August.


The shutdowns and cancellations led to widespread layoffs, reduced hours and pay cuts for workers at businesses large and small, as well as at nonprofits and arts groups. The Times Union of Albany reported that in a mid-March survey of local businesses by the Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership, 41 percent said they had already laid off employees – and 59 percent said they were at risk of closing permanently.


To keep businesses afloat, a $2 trillion federal relief package, passed by Congress in late March, provides for low-interest loans to small businesses and nonprofits, and those loans can be forgiven if they’re used to retain payroll employees or to pay a mortgage, rent or utility bills.
Even in a presidential election year, the coronavirus mostly put politics on hold. New York postponed its presidential primary, which had been scheduled for April 28, until June 23, and state officials began to discuss strategies for increasing the use of mail-in ballots. Massachusetts Democrats moved to cancel their state nominating convention, which had been scheduled for May 30. And Vermont eliminated requirements for this year’s candidates to gather petition signatures.


By the end of March, health officials were reporting more than 400 Covid-19 cases across southwestern Vermont, the Berkshires and the neighboring New York counties of Columbia, Rensselaer, Washington, Saratoga and Warren. But because tests for the coronavirus were only being given to patients who were seriously ill, experts said the actual number of infections might be far higher. Seven people in the region had died.


Much of the nation’s attention was focused on metropolitan New York City, where the number of Covid-19 cases exploded into tens of thousands in March (nearly 50,000 in the city alone by month’s end) and was expected to peak by late April, potentially overwhelming hospitals and health care workers. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered hospitals statewide to increase their capacity of beds by at least 50 percent – and up to 100 percent if possible – and raised the prospect of transferring patients from New York City and its suburbs to upstate hospitals in the Albany area and beyond.


In Vermont, the Rutland Herald reported officials were working toward a goal of doubling the state’s supply of 575 hospital beds and 163 ventilators. Gov. Phil Scott and other top officials told reporters at a March 25 news conference that the Vermont National Guard was in the process of building three additional medical sites that together could handle a surge of up to 250 patients beyond the capacity of the state’s hospitals.


Hospitals and health care workers across the region pleaded throughout March for more test kits and a stronger supply of protective gear they said would be needed for the coming wave of patients. The potential hazards to health care workers were on display at Berkshire Medical Center, where some 160 staff members were furloughed for 14-day quarantines after unknowingly coming into contact with the coronavirus while treating the area’s first patients before they were diagnosed. The Berkshire Eagle reported that the hospital wound up so short-staffed that it had to hire 50 temporary nurses from outside the area.


Health officials say Covid-19 poses especially high risks for people over 60 and for those with pre-existing medical conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. Because of the risk to the elderly, nursing homes across the region locked down in early March, banning all visitors and restricting residents to their rooms.


But at least two area nursing homes were experiencing outbreaks of Covid-19 by the end of the month. In Massachusetts, The Berkshire Eagle reported that 17 residents of the Williamstown Common Nursing & Rehabilitation Center were confirmed to have the virus, and one of those patients died March 29.


In Columbia County, the Times Union reported that four residents of the Pine Haven Nursing & Rehabilitation Center in Philmont had tested positive for Covid-19 as of March 27, while four others showed signs of the illness. On March 28, a Pine Haven resident became the first person in the county to die from Covid-19.
-- Compiled by Fred Daley