Coronavirus Update, August 28, 2020
The Tompkins County Health Department announced yesterday that a TCAT customer who rode the Route 30 bus on Wednesday has tested positive for COVID-19.
Anyone who rode the outbound Route 30 bus on Wednesday, August 26, between 11:51 a.m. to 12:26 p.m., or inbound from 2:28 p.m. to 2:51 p.m. to Seneca Street station, should be tested.
Call Cayuga Health Call Center at 607-319-5708 to make a testing appointment. Or register online for an appointment at cayugahealthsystem.org. Call 211 if you need transportation to the testing center at the Shops at Ithaca Mall
Cornell students who may have ridden the 30 bus at these times should call Cornell Health at 607-255-5155 and should not go to an arrival or surveillance testing site.
Riders who were potentially exposed should monitor themselves for symptoms and, even if the test is negative, should quarantine for 14 days. TCHD's full press release is available at tompkinscountyny.gov/health/
Cornell University has made a $150,000 dollar donation to the Tompkins County Health Department towards the support of the county’s COVID-19 response, the Ithaca Times reports.
During the summer, the county Health Department trained new contact tracers at Cornell Health. The new contact tracers are now working to follow any Cornell students or staff that have a positive COVID-19 test result. As of this week, Cornell identified three positive cases out of over 6500 people tested.
This past Sunday and Monday, the Cayuga Health testing facility located at the Ithaca Mall limited the number of tests administered in order to provide additional tests on the Cornell campus.
Tompkins County Health Director Frank Kruppa indicated that he is pleased with the collaboration between his agency and Cornell.
Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that certain “low-risk” high school sports could resume starting September 21. A recent letter from the New York State Council of School Superintendents asked Cuomo to reconsider this decision.
The Odessa File reports that the group asked for a delay to the resumption of sports until early 2021, saying that having sports this fall could jeopardize the start of in-person classes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Watkins Glen superintendent Greg Kelahan said that the letter surprised him. He indicated that he wishes he had been consulted before the letter had been sent. Kelahan stated that in his view, interscholastic athletics are an important part of public education. He says his district seeks guidance from the state as to how to resume athletics safely.
The Governor’s directive says that restarting school sports is not mandatory. Officials in Section 4, including Tompkins and Schuyler County, are still considering their options.
Looking at the local COVID-19 caseload, the latest numbers, released Friday, August 28th from the Tompkins County health department, indicate that there are 9 additional positive cases, and 2 new recoveries. According to the County Health Department, that leaves 18 active cases of COVID-19 in Tompkins.
In Schuyler County, there is one new case of COVID-19 reported as of Friday, August 28th, according to their Health Department. There are currently two active cases in Schuyler.