'High' COVID risk returns to region

May 24—COVID-19 cases have continued to increase across central New York during the first three weeks of May. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention raised a warning by raising the COVID Community Level to "High" in Chenango, Delaware, Otsego and Schoharie counties.

Otsego County is currently faring worst among these four counties, in terms of new cases reported. The weekly COVID case rate last week in Otsego was about 313 cases per 100,000 population. Delaware had a case rate of 295, Schoharie's was 271 and Chenango 252.

Monday, Otsego County received report of 66 new cases in the county, bringing the total for the month to 925, said Heidi Bond, director of public health for Otsego County.

"This is significant increase compared to 369 cases in March and 789 cases in April," she said during a Monday phone interview.

This spring, New York City "has seemed the epicenter of where the cases were," Bond said "It's spreading now through upstate, the Northeast, and over down into Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and then, to our east."

The COVID levels are calculated weekly by the CDC, using three metrics: the case rate, or number of confirmed positive COVID cases per 100,000 people; new hospital admissions of people with COVID, also listed per 100,000 population; and hospital bed availability, calculated as the percent of inpatient beds used by patients with COVID.

"Community Levels are categorized as low, medium, and high based on the number of COVID-19 cases in a given community and the impact of severe disease" on hospitals and other local healthcare providers, according to the CDC website.

The latest CDC map shows high risk across most of New England and mid-Atlantic states but low levels in much of the rest of the country.

In Otsego County, the number of new hospital admissions related to COVID has also been increasing, Bond said. The latest CDC statistics show 11.5 new hospitalizations per 100,000 in the region, even though there are only 2 county residents currently hospitalized with coronavirus.

"We might report two hospitalized every day, but it might be two different people every few days," Bond said. "People are having shorter stays."

In Chenango County, "I've been watching our numbers tick up over the last few weeks. And we're monitoring that closely," said the county's new Public Health Director Isaiah Sutton, who took over the position April 30.

The current COVID rates are comparable to those in the region during October and November, when the state experienced the delta variant but omicron had not yet arrived, Sutton said.

"We strongly encourage folks to wear masks when in indoor places, especially if it's a crowded indoor space. It's still good to use social distancing as a tool to protect yourself. And this is especially true for folks with underlying health factors," Sutton said.

"I definitely appreciate that everyone is tired putting on a mask, tired of going through these steps. But it does remain important. We do strongly encourage folks that continue to do that," he said. "And hopefully it's only for a short amount of time. Once the risk level drops back down, then we can forego some of these precautions."

Delaware and Schoharie county health officials did not return calls asking for information. Graphs on the state Department of Health COVID dashboard show that Schoharie County cases have increased nearly ever week since March 1, while Delaware County cases have been rising since March 12.

In separate conversations, Bond and Sutton both emphasized that people should test any time they feel sick in any way. "If you think it's allergies, it's probably best to just do a test if you have one available," Bond said. "Say home if you're sick, stay home from work, stay home from gatherings if you're not feeling well."

Otsego County has provided free test kits, available at seven locations in Oneonta and Cooperstown, starting May 23 until they run out: Huntington Library, the CDO Workforce on Dietz Street, the Family Service Association on Chestnut Street, Rehabilitation Support Services on River Street, and the City-County building on Main Street. In Cooperstown, free tests will be available at the Cooperstown Food Pantry and the public library.

Chenango County also has 1,000 test kits to distribute but has not selected locations yet. More information will be available on the county health webpage, Sutton said. "Early detection is such an important part of stopping the spread of COVID."

Otsego County will hold a vaccination clinic on May 26, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the county's Meadows office building. Chenango County has a clinic scheduled June 17 in Norwich. Vaccines continue to be available at most pharmacies as well, Bond said.

Mike Forster Rothbart, staff writer, can be reached at mforsterrothbart@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7213. Follow him at @DS_MikeFR on Twitter.