Coronavirus Update, October 14, 2020
Kendal at Ithaca, a retirement community near Triphammer marketplace, has reported 4 new positive cases of COVID-19, according to the Ithaca Voice. The new positive cases were revealed to be three health center staff members and one resident. All of them spent extended amounts of time in the health center. Kendal announced on Facebook that the employees who tested positive were working in different areas of the health center.
Kendal also closed its campus to all visitations, and is now sending both mail and meals straight to residents. All health center workers are being tested every Wednesday. When The Ithaca Voice asked about the cases at Kendal, the Tompkins County Health Department declined to comment.
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Ithaca College students living out of state and seeking mental health care are having difficulty navigating the state and national regulations pertaining to mental health care providers.
The majority of IC students are attending classes remotely due to the COVID-19, and many mental health care providers have switched to providing counseling via telehealth. However, according to New York State licensing restrictions, counselors with Ithaca College Counseling and Psychological Services, or CAPS, can only provide clinical telehealth services to students living in New York State.
CAPS has 11 mental health providers on its staff, and some have been temporarily certified to offer telehealth to students residing outside of New York State. But, the duration of these licenses varies. Brien Petersen, director of CAPS, says that his office is helping students who are living outside of New York to find mental health providers in their area.
Petersen hopes the current COVID-19 crisis forces the American Psychological Association, and other professional governing bodies, to work to create uniform standards for licensed therapists across the U.S.
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Cornell University’s reopening plan has seemingly worked as there were only seven new positive cases of the virus as of last week, according to the Cornell Sun. And since the start of the semester on September 2nd, there have only been 100 new cases, compared to their initial projection of 1,254 positive cases.
The President and Provost of Cornell wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post explaining how the school’s policies of mask wearing and socially distanced classroom has prevented a significant spread of the virus among Cornell students.
Cornell’s COVID-19 education plan has received national attention. Footage of masked and socially-distanced Cornell students was featured on a Good Morning America segment. Schools across the country are attempting to follow Cornell’s COVID-19 education plan, but the President and Provost stress that many schools may not be able to. They cited reasons such as Cornell’s uniquely isolated location, and the fact that the university has access to their own labs.
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Looking at the local COVID-19 caseload, the latest numbers, released on Wednesday from the Tompkins County health department, indicate that there are 7 additional positives, and 5 new recoveries. According to the County Health Department, that leaves 48 active cases of COVID-19 in Tompkins.
In Schuyler County, there are no new cases of COVID-19 reported as Wednesday, according to their Health Department. Five are hospitalized with complications from the virus, and 14 active cases remain.
Michigan, Ohio and Virginia have been added to New York’s travel advisory which includes over 30 states. Visitors from those areas must quarantine for 2 weeks upon arriving in New York. See the full list of states at coronavirus.health.ny.gov.
Contributing writing by WRFI News Intern Christian Maitre and WRFI Volunteer Esther Racoosin