Tompkins County COVID update: Federal funding for state testing centers

Jacob Mack, Ithaca Journal
·2 min read
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Though COVID-19 cases have been dwindling in Tompkins County since the nationwide pandemic was federally called off, the federal government has earmarked another $157 million to reimburse state agencies for unexpected purchases to allow testing centers to run smoothly.

“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, New York State provided efficient and essential testing centers that kept New Yorkers safe,” U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, D-NY, said in a statement Thursday. “These federal funds will reimburse New York State for the costs associated with running and maintaining these critical testing centers that helped protect the health and safety of New Yorkers.”

Cayuga Medical Center personnel collected samples for coronavirus testing at a sampling center location set up in the parking lot of The Shops at Ithaca Mall.
Cayuga Medical Center personnel collected samples for coronavirus testing at a sampling center location set up in the parking lot of The Shops at Ithaca Mall.

The latest Tompkins County figures regarding COVID-19 report only one new hospital admission due to COVID, and 63 positive cases of the virus in the two weeks prior to Jan. 19, with 99 positive cases tallied this week and six county residents currently hospitalized with the virus.

The Finger Lakes area as a whole reported 199 hospitalizations and an infection rate of 16.54 in every 100,000 people as of Jan 24 in the past two weeks.

Statewide, positive cases have dwindled to 127 in 100,000 people this week, far from the higher infection rates of early 2022, when the virus infected 2,669 of every 100,000 New Yorkers.

New York State discontinued by-county testing reports Aug. 31, but continues to track testing, cases and the movement of new coronavirus variants, with data available on the state coronavirus health page.

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The NYS Wastewater Surveillance Network collected 417 samples of wastewater statewide over the past 15 days, which it tested for compounds present in the waste of those infected with coronavirus.

The network reports a high level of SARS-CoV-2 in water processed by the Ithaca Area Wastewater Treatment Facility. Levels increased in intensity over the past two weeks.

This article originally appeared on Ithaca Journal: Tompkins County COVID-19: Federal funding for state testing centers