Coronavirus Update, December 9, 2020
According to the Ithaca Voice, today’s announcement by Governor Cuomo revealed that over 170,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be distributed throughout New York State. 4,500 of those doses will go to the Southern Tier region which encompasses Tompkins and Schuyler counties.
Nursing home residents and staff members, along with general healthcare workers will be prioritized to get the vaccine.
Governor Cuomo announced Wednesday that if the FDA approves the vaccine tomorrow it would go on to a board of state-appointed medical professionals. If both groups approve the vaccine it can then be widely distributed in New York. Cuomo hopes that the double approval will give some reassurance to people who are skeptical of the vaccine over how fast it was developed.
If approved, deliveries could start as soon as this weekend to the various New York regions.
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Boynton Middle School will be offering remote-only learning to its students until Tuesday, December 15, the Ithaca Times reports.
The Ithaca City School District announced in a press release that the change from the regular hybrid schedule is due to a report that two persons have tested positive for COVID-19. The first individual to receive a positive test had numerous contacts at the school; due to the number of people in quarantine, the school is, for now, closed to in-person learning. The second individual who received a positive COVID test is said to have had no close contacts in the school.
Because the regular Boynton hybrid-learning schedule includes a fully remote schedule on Wednesdays, in-person learning will resume on Thursday, December 17th.
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Now we’ll take a look at the local COVID-19 caseload. The latest numbers released Wednesday from the Tompkins County health department indicate that there are 26 additional positives, and 22 new recoveries. According to the County Health Department, that leaves 291 active cases of COVID-19 in Tompkins. 10 remain hospitalized with complications of the virus.
In Schuyler County, there are 7 new cases of COVID-19 as of Wednesday, leaving 40 active cases, according to their Health Department. 3 remain hospitalized for the virus.
Contributing writing by WRFI News Director Michayla Savitt and News Contributor Esther Racoosin