Coronavirus Update, October 29, 2020

The Schuyler County Health Department announced last night that another community member has passed away due to COVID-19. The individual was a male in his 70s, and is the third Schuyler County resident that’s died from the virus. A of today there are 6 new cases of COVID-19 in Schuyler, and 31active cases remain.

The latest numbers, released today from the Tompkins County health department, indicate that there are 10 additional positives, and 3 new recoveries. According to the County Health Department, that leaves 77 active cases of COVID-19 in Tompkins.

The Ithaca YMCA may be facing closure as a result of the pandemic. Ryan Weese, the YMCA’s Board of Directors Chairperson revealed that the location is losing as much as $15,000 each month. This comes from having to pay employees despite drops in memberships. These losses have resulted in their number of memberships dropping from around 1,600 to 830 from the start of the year, reports the Ithaca Voice.

The YMCA closed earlier this year on March 15th due to rising cases in New York State. They reopened on August 31st while following the state’s requirements for re-opening a workout location. Although to achieve this the YMCA had to pay significant amounts of money in order to staff the location.

Contributing Writing by WRFI contributors Christian Maitre and Anna Lamb.