Baystate Health CEO Mark Keroack: COVID-19 may be making comeback in Western Massachusetts

Baystate Health President and CEO Dr. Mark Keroack (Don Treeger / The Republican)

SPRINGFIELD — Baysate Health had 34 in-patients Wednesday with coronavirus — 32 of them at its flagship Baystate Medical Center.

That’s far better than back in April when Baystate would report more than 100 coronavirus cases on some days.

But Baystate President and CEO Mark A. Keroack said Wednesday that it was only the second time since June that the patient count had been greater than 30.

"It worries me a lot that we might be starting to see a resurgence of cases in our area," Keroack said. "Which is quite alarming."

And while testing has fallen off — due in part to a lack of supplies to run the those tests — from 1,000 a day to more like 800 a day, the positive test rate has climbed from 1.7% to 2.2%, mirroring similar trends statewide.

"I am worried that we are entering a perilous new phase of this pandemic," said Keroack.

He spoke Wednesday with writers and reporters at The Republican and MassLive.com via Zoom, updating the community and following up on a similar session back in March,

He said he’s concerned that Massachusetts might be on the road to reliving the spikes the nation has seen in the South and West and of going backwards in the fight against the coronavirus. Backwards, he warned, means more social and economic hardship. All the price for what he called “selfish” and “thoughtless” failures to follow rules.

He said even if a group of friends or relatives all test negative for coronavirus, “the idea that we could all take our masks off and have a grand time. That’s nuts.”

The small silver lining is that the positive tests are coming back for younger people now, so fewer patients are likely to need intensive care.

It’s not like Baystate Health is immune in any sense of the word. Last month, it experienced its own outbreak after an employee returned form a trip to a hot spot. Then, the infection spread within the unit by employees eating in a break room.

The outbreak led to 23 patients and 33 employees testing positive. But there are no new positive cases. So Keroack believes the cluster is contained.

And Baystate Health has new rules about employee travel and has added more break rooms, including a tent, to help people socially distance.

"So my hope is that we can continue to communicate the importance to everyone in our communities the importance of sticking with the guidelines," he said.

But it's becoming clear that some are not keeping up with the routine of hand washing, staying 6-feet apart and wearing masks.

"It's really hard for people to pay attention and commit month after month after month for something that is kind of a pain in the neck," he said.

And Keroack said he notices it when he is out and about.

“I’m a little bit nervous everywhere,” he said “I’m always thinking, somewhere in this crowd there is somebody who has COVID.”

But Keroack, who was an infectious disease specialist before moving into administration, said he doubts if state crackdowns on gatherings would work.

Problem is, who would enforce it?

The state has 351 cities and towns, each with its own health department. That means enforcement and procedures carry widely.

Without identifying where, Keroack said Baystate Health helped a number of towns realize that a recent cluster of coronavirus cases stemmed from the same church.

"We butted heads with town departments," he said.

But they were able to get some enforcement for the church gatherings.

He said in the future, Baystate Health might play a larger regional role in tracking disease and supporting local health departments.

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