BY DAN VALENTI

PLANET VALENTI NEWS AND COMMENTARY

Part Two of Two

(FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, WEDNESDAY JAN. 6, 2021) — Today THE PLANET concludes our series on the Mazzeo’s/Methuselah COVID Controversy with the response from Pittsfield’s director of public health, Gina Armstrong, followed by a redirect from for city council president and mayoral candidate Melissa Mazzeo.

As you may recall from Part 1, Melissa shared exclusive to THE PLANET what she called “Mazzeo’s Christmas Miracle” — the faint admission by the city and the Berkshire Eagle that the restaurant she owns with husband Tony was not a causal factor in the scary outbreak of the virus in the weeks following Halloween.

We present the material as received, editing only for mechanics and continuity. Think of it as a “virtual debate.” Our role as moderator precludes editorial comment … for now.

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GINA ARMSTRONG, DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC HEALTH

It’s hard to be brief in response to what’s being called a “Christmas Miracle.”  We are very busy here at the health department managing months of widespread and cluster transmission leading to over 1400 cases in Pittsfield alone, providing guidance and enforcement on the Commonwealth’s safety standards and now planning for COVID-19 vaccination clinics, in addition to other core functions of the department. We work with Mayor Tyer’s Coronavirus Task Force consisting of 17 officials to determine the most effective strategies to manage the pandemic given the circumstances and resources we have available. It’s very fast paced and we quickly move on to the next priority.

Gina Armstrong speaks at city hall. Mayor Tyer is to her right. “The usual suspects” can be seen in the background (PHOTO: MASSLIVE)

Following the reported COVID cases associated with customers at Methuselah’s, the Health Department public health nurse team conducted contact investigation with the initial and subsequent cases.  A family member of the initial confirmed case had already contacted everyone in their group as well as the owner of Methuselah’s to notify them of their potential exposure to an infectious person.  During the contact tracing process, it was reported that members of this group had dinner at Mazzeo’s prior to going to Methuselah’s.  Because no one outside of the Birthday dinner group of 10 people at Mazzeo’s was identified during the contact investigation as a ‘close contact’ (within 6 feet for 15 minutes) that would require quarantine, the public health nurse was probably prioritizing the urgent work load and did not contact the management of Mazzeo’s.  Normally, the nurse would call to inform them and servers on that shift of a possible exposure. Fortunately, there is no indication of transmission that occurred (outside of the dinner group) at Mazzeo’s as a result of or following this dinner.

In my (and Kayla Donnelly-Winters’) interviews with the BE in late November, these findings as well as names of other associated restaurants were shared for a comprehensive story Amanda was doing on this outbreak but the story didn’t run until last week.  Out of my control. Melissa’s idea that we “finally came clean” and “caved” may get attention on social media but the reality is, I gave substantial time to address Melissa’s concern and inform the public on the outcomes of late October social activities and I moved on weeks ago.

Between 10/28 – 11/11, following a large Halloween house party and the birthday group at Methuselah’s where there was transmission to other contacts and several employees from various restaurants, we had 104 new cases in Pittsfield.  There was also another cluster event originating from Port Smit’s in that period. Contact tracing on each positive case was done and the impacted restaurants were notified by the nurse team; a health inspector also reviewed safety guidelines with the managers; some voluntarily closed all operations for an extended period until all employees could be tested and return to work safely. The facts to transmission are often not immediately at hand and in this case it took time to investigate contributing factors and potential violations of safety standards.

The ripple of these cases impacted day cares, schools, our police department, etc in that short period of time. Because there were known cases at several restaurants and indoor dining is a high risk activity due to close proximity for extended periods without a mask and uncertain ventilation, a temporary suspension of indoor table service was a logical intervention to stamp down the surge in cases we had in the city. It was the Pittsfield Board of Health that exercised their authority to impose necessary restrictions to protect public health and the Board issued the Emergency Order to temporarily suspend indoor dining until the city’s case data improved (anticipating 2-3 weeks).

We’ve repeated the message many times to make it very clear to the public that a cluster of cases can start from one asymptomatic person being in close proximity to others without a mask.   That is why the BOH, followed by the Governor’s order on Dec 8th, decided to restrict the group size at restaurants to a maximum of 6 people and encourages to avoid dining with people outside of one’s household.

My final comment is that we all need to work together to get through this pandemic. Policy decisions are very difficult and there is a need for balance.  Let’s support one another in the challenging but very hopeful weeks ahead.

Wishing you a Happy New Year Dan.
Be Well,
Gina

Gina Armstrong
Director of Public Health
Pittsfield Health Department
70 Allen Street
Pittsfield MA 01201
413-499-9411
www.cityofpittsfield.org

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Here’s the rebuttal:

MELISSA MAZZEO

DAN,

I am attaching some links for you to look at, most I am sure you have read. They point out the hypocrisy in the shut down/reopening of Pittsfield Restaurants.  The Board of Health (BOH) shut down all indoor dining on Nov. 13 when Pittsfield was still hanging on to the yellow/orange state designation for COVID-19 risk. After push back on the Health Department (HD), BOH, and mayor to show us the data they used to do such a singular action (no other city or town in MA closed indoor dining), they allowed us all to reopen on Dec. 3, the same day we went into Red on the city’s COVID dashboard (Berkshire Eagle article Dec. 2). So you can see why it seems so insane to shut down the whole industry when it was clear that only two restaurants were the culprits of the massive outbreak. Now back to why Mazzeo’s Restaurant said we finally got a “Miracle.” Below is a timeline of sorts:

MELISSA MAZZEO:  (Photo, iBerkshires)

1. The HD and mayor knew of a positive case from Methuselah’s on Oct. 19 from a gathering that occurred on Oct. 24. The offending party had been at Mazzeo’s first, but we received no notice of Mazzeo’s of potential exposure, which is contract tracing’s #1 protocol.

2. On Oct. 31, Port Smit’s hosted a large closing party. A huge COVID outbreak followed.

3. Also on Oct. 31, Kathy Amuso’s son’s held a large party for staff from various restaurants, teachers, and health care workers, who were linked to these events. A large outbreak of COVID followed.

4  On Nov. 2 the mayor reported that Pittsfield had 24 positive cases from Oct. 25 to Nov. 2. Mazzeo’s Restaurant still had not been contacted about the Oct. 21 infected party.

.

5. Nov. 3 Andy Canby from HD called Mazzeo’s to say they received a complaint about a large gathering in the restaurant.  After a conversation with Anthony Mazzeo [husband], who offered to show a video to prove this information as inaccurate, the inspector gave Mazzeos a clean bill of health.

6. Nov. 4 Gina Armstrong e-mailed the mayor to say no violations occurred at Mazzeo’s. The email was given to us. It is attached below (remember, Mazzeo’s was still  never contacted through COVID tracing protocol about this original event on Oct. 21 — THE BIRTHDAY PARTY!!).

7. Nov. 6 the mayor tells WAMC and the Berkshire Eagle that Mazzeo’s was linked to the party that was infected. Almost every article and news story ( Nov. 7 in iBerkshires) from here on out until the Dec. 24 story, mentions Mazzeo’s as the place where this all started. The Mayor and the HD clearly know that we were not involved but continued to link our name to this outbreak.

8. I sent three e-mails (Dec. 3, 11, and 21) and made two phone calls to Gina Armstrong asking to have our name cleared. As you know, this clearance was slightly mentioned, buried actually, in the Dec. 24 Berkshire Eagle article [The link to this article is below].

To put this all into context: Any person who can read between the lines will realize this whole thing was a sham. And then there are people who may say — move on, and we have — but it’s a slap in the face to have our restaurant’s name dragged on like this when our staff has worked so hard to keep our customers and themselves safe.

As for Kathy Amuso, the Health Department linked 20 cases to her son’s “private Halloween House Party.” Private house parties, per Gov. Baker, are advised to be no more than 10 people. This party and its infected guests were not named in public, only referred to as a private house party, until the Dec. 24 Eagle article that names everyone, and barely states that Mazzeo’s had no hand in the outbreak. So who is targeting whom? For two months her son’s party was not named, only referred to as a house party. Twenty people were infected at that party. Yet Mazzeo’s name was mentioned in every article as a restaurant involved in this horrific outbreak. Schools were shut down, nursing homes attacked, and restaurants shut down and she’s saying she was targeted? Maybe if the “private party” was named earlier, some of this could have been avoided. Kathy sits on the licensing board and has voted to fine and reprimand establishments who violate the COVID orders, yet she gets indignant when the tables turn to her family.

So DAN, that is my statement to the ridiculous answers from the mayor and Kathy Amuso. As for Gina, in my opinion, she is working very hard and she can only do what her boss tells her to do.

https://www.berkshireeagle.com/news/local/superspreader-timeline-in-pittsfield/article_05c4c15a-4579-11eb-b3dc-6749c199af57.html

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It does leave us all with this question: Was Mazzeo’s Restaurant unfairly “indicted” by the city as part of a political vendetta or not? If not, why was the restaurant left in the dark for so long?

Armstrong admits the city “did not contact the management of Mazzeo’s,” guessing that “prioritization” was the reason the public health nurse did not call Melissa or Tony Mazzeo? This begs two additional questions: How long would a phone call have taken? Not long. Also, wouldn’t it be better not to guess at this information but to interview the public health nurse as to the reasons for no call or notice to Mazzeo’s Restaurant?

THE PLANET thanks all who helped us with this series — the interviewees and various “field informants.”

“The worst thing that can happen to a good cause is not to be skillfully attacked but to be ineptly defended”  — Economist Frederic Bastiat.

“OPEN THE WINDOW, AUNT MILLIE.”

LOVE TO ALL.

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