Westchester Exceeds 5,000 Active Cases Of Coronavirus

WHITE PLAINS, NY — The number of active cases of the new coronavirus in Westchester County now exceeds 5,000.

County Executive George Latimer said, during a news conference Wednesday, there were 5,024 individuals as of Tuesday who are infected with the virus and have not yet cleared the two-week protocol after which they can be considered no longer contagious.

According to state numbers, 7,831 people were tested for the virus Tuesday, with 332 new positives reported.

A total of 1,048,673 people have been tested for the coronavirus in the county since the beginning of the pandemic, out of which 47,964 were confirmed to be positive for the virus.

Latimer said the more than 5,000 active cases is up by more than 1,000 from the previous week.

He said two weeks ago there were 2,502 active cases. On Nov. 4, there were 1,666 active cases.

"That's how fast we have risen," Latimer said.

He said there are 198 people hospitalized with COVID-19-related illnesses, adding that was about a 4 percent rate.

Latimer said the rate of hospitalization is relatively good, but a higher rate would be more concerning.

For comparison, on Election Day, 47 people were hospitalized.

There have been 1,506 fatalities due to the disease, Latimer said, which is up from 1,493 a week ago.

According to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office, there was no change in micro-cluster zone status in Westchester County.

Port Chester remains an orange zone. Its current seven-day rolling average is 7.81 percent, up from Tuesday's 7.71 percent.

New Rochelle is still a yellow zone, with its seven-day rolling average at 4.99 percent for both Wednesday and Tuesday.

Yonkers, Tarrytown and Ossining are still yellow zones, with slight decreases in their seven-day rolling average. Peekskill, which is still a yellow zone, saw a slight increase in the seven-day rolling average from Tuesday to Wednesday.

Under yellow zone regulations, the following restrictions are implemented:

• Indoor and outdoor dining is permitted, but there is a four-person maximum per table; bars and restaurants must still close at 10 p.m.; and late-night takeout is permitted.

• Schools can remain open, however 20 percent of the weekly in-student and teacher population must be tested.

• In-home private gatherings are limited to 10 people.

• All other nonessential gatherings are limited to 25 people, whether indoors or outdoors.

• Capacity at houses or worship is limited to 50 percent.

Orange zones can only have 10 people maximum for nonessential gatherings, the lesser of 33 percent capacity or 25 people for houses of worship, high-risk nonessential businesses must close, only outdoor dining, takeout or delivery allowed with a four-person maximum per table and schools must operate only as remote learning.

Here is the map from Westchester County with total and active cases of the new coronavirus broken down by community.

This article originally appeared on the White Plains Patch