PITTSFIELD, MASS. (WHDH) - As the number of coronavirus cases continue to climb in Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker is asking the federal government to allow more state hospitals to conduct their own testing.
Baker made the remark during a visit to the Berkshires on Thursday, where unusual coronavirus cases have popped up across the region.
Nine out of 108 confirmed cases of coronavirus are in the Berkshires, where many have not traveled outside the country and have not come in contact with someone who tested positive for the virus.
Nurses at the Berkshire Medical Center are also needed since several are on furlough, taking care of themselves, according to Baker.
More medical personnel will be needed to administer more tests even though the state can now test 5,000 more people after samples are examined at a lab in Jamaica Plain.
Baker wants to expand who can actually test for the virus.
“We need more testing capacity in Massachusetts, and my primary objective over the course of the next few days is to get the feds to give the hospitals and the private labs the material they need to actually prove that they can do this and get authorized by the FDA,” Baker.
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