Omicron surge, new Jersey Mike's, Merrow's got tests: Top stories in Fall River this week
FALL RIVER — There's one positive aspect to this bone-chilling cold: It means plenty of time to catch up on the week's biggest stories.
Of course, this is also your chance to erase the memory of last night's Patriots game.
Not surprisingly, COVID topped the news yet again.
The omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus continues to rampage through Fall River, delivering more new COVID cases in the last week than in April, May, June, July and August of this year combined.
According to the state Department of Public Health, the past week saw Fall River log a whopping 2,179 new cases of COVID — a daily average of over 311 new positive cases per day, making it by far the worst period of the entire pandemic.
Fall River area schools saw numerous staff and student absences but new test and stay procedures, as well as additional CNAs available to help field families' questions and assist school staff, are going a long way toward helping schools manage this surge.
Getting worse, not better: Fall River COVID cases soar to unprecedented numbers as the omicron variant sweeps through
Here's a look at some of the other top stories from the past week.
Cooking up Italian favorites
A Fall River resident’s latest endeavor is serving up fresh Italian food in the Don Carlos Club.
“So, far, so good. It’s slow, but steady,” said Brendan O’Neil.
O’Neil, who previously owned Il Piatto, an Italian restaurant in the location that’s currently Mesa 21, and a brick oven pizza restaurant in North Kingston, is now running The Italian Kitchen.
The restaurant currently offers sit-down dining for lunch and dinner Mondays through Thursdays and take-out Fridays through Sundays, when the club rents out its function hall. Starting later this month, they plan to start serving dine-in customers on the weekends, too, O’Neil said.
At the Don Carlos Club: This new Fall River restaurant is serving up classic Italian fare favorites
Jersey Mike's and Panchero's coming to Somerset
It won’t be long before you’ll be able to grab a hot Starbucks coffee and a warm Philly style cheese steak sandwich in one fell swoop.
And by June you should be able to add freshly made burritos and other Mexican menu items to the mix by walking a few extra yards.
Jersey Mike’s Subs franchisee Bob Quinlan is shooting for a March opening date for his Somerset sandwich shop inside a commercial building that sits directly below Fairfield Inn & Suites.
Fellow franchise owner Dustin DeBoer is hopeful that his and his partners’ first Pancheros Mexican Grill endeavor will open for business in the same building sometime in June.
The year-old Route 6 hotel and four-unit commercial building are located within what has become known as Fairfield Commons. The 14-plus-acre property sits across the street from a plaza containing The Home Depot Somerset store.
Somerset development: New sandwich shop, Mexican restaurant planned for Somerset's Fairfield Commons
Shady COVID testing sites shut down
State health officials have shut down a local COVID testing site run by a private company that has been subject to myriad complaints, along with several other sites run by the same company.
"Residents are urged not to visit the Center for COVID control for a COVID-19 test," a Massachusetts Department of Public Health representative told WCVB news.
The testing site at 331 State Road in North Dartmouth was set up by the Center for COVID Control, an Illinois company that, according to its website, has hundreds of testing sites offering free rapid and PCR COVID tests across the country.
COVID test complaints: Dartmouth COVID testing site shut down by health department
Merrow takes shipment of COVID tests
If you haven’t had any luck lately finding at-home COVID-19 test kits in pharmacies and stores — and chances are you haven’t — you might want to contact Merrow Manufacturing.
“They’re available; they’re here,” said Merrow Manufacturing CEO Charlie Merrow.
The Fall River manufacturer of overlock sewing machines and commercial “technical soft goods” took delivery this past weekend of 500,000 test kits made by South Korean biopharmaceutical company Celltrion.
He says there’s neither a minimum nor maximum quantity requirement or limitation when ordering the Celltrion kits — which either can be picked up at the Merrow Manufacturing building at 502 Bedford St., or be delivered the next day by UPS when orders are placed before 3 p.m.
This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Top Fall River stories: omicron surge, Jersey Mike's, Merrow COVID tests
