Otsego loses two more to virus; local cases spread

Mike Forster Rothbart, The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y.
·3 min read

May 18—Otsego County reported two COVID-19 deaths on Monday, May 16, as the number of new cases continued to rise in both Otsego and Delaware counties.

The man and woman who died over the weekend were both over 85 years old, and both were residents at the same nursing home, said Heidi Bond, director of the county health department, on Tuesday. However, there were no reports of a larger cluster of cases at that nursing home.

"We're definitely seeing a rise in the number of daily reported cases," Bond said, with 90 new cases reported on Monday and 73 on Tuesday. Otsego County had recorded 764 COVID cases so far this month, as of May 17, exceeding the 735 reported during the entire month of April, but still far below the 2,394 cases in the county in January, during the omicron peak.

Otsego County reports the results of both lab test and home tests on the county health department webpage, while the state COVID tracker only lists official PCR test results, leading to an apparent discrepancy, Bond explained.

Delaware County officials have noticed clusters of COVID cases at nursing homes and assisted living facilities recently, but said this may be due to testing protocols. "Once they start having a case or two, they have to institute a testing protocol. So therefore, they're also doing more testing" than others, and are more likely to turn up asymptomatic cases, said Mandy Walsh, director of public health for Delaware County.

The county had been averaging 15 to 20 new cases per day, Walsh said, though there has been a subtle increase each month.

After low community transmission in March, there was a "bit of a blip" after college and public school breaks in April, and another increase in May.

"Definitely people are out and about, there are more activities. There are more events happening," Walsh said, "We also have a lot of traffic and travel ... the tourism and people visiting in the weekend." The rising COVID case numbers are a natural consequence of the warmer weather and increased socializing, Walsh suggested.

Delaware County has had a total of 252 cases in May, according to the New York State Department of Health. The county no longer publishes COVID numbers itself.

"We still are one of the few counties left in the state who, you know, are still in the medium community level" for transmission risk, Bond said. The CDC map shows a group of six counties in central New York, including Delaware, Chenango, Otsego and Schoharie, at the medium level for community spread of COVID, surrounded by most of New York state at the high risk level.

New York City moved from the medium COVID alert level to high alert, the city health commissioner announced Tuesday.

"Is the mandate going to come back into place?" Bond said. "I don't think there'll be one from the state. And I don't think that there's the climate to do one at the local level."

Mike Forster Rothbart, staff writer, can be reached at mforsterrothbart@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7213. Follow him at @DS_MikeFR on Twitter.