The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
ON THE MEND
Central New York remains one metric short to begin phase one of reopening
WAMPSVILLE, N.Y. » After COVID-19 cases surged in the last few weeks, Madison County appears to be healing from its most recent spike.
At its worst, the county had over one hundred active COVID-19 cases, and that number is now declining with 52 active cases currently. There are 72 tests still pending.
With the county on the mend, how will the region begin to move forward? Gov. Andrew Cuomo has laid out seven metrics that state regions must meet before being allowed to begin phase one of reopening. Central New York, where Madison County resides, is just one metric short— and that metric involves testing.
Officials agree that widespread testing is necessary to get a hold of this virus, which has no vaccine or cure.
The state outlined the regional testing metric as, “Average daily diagnostic testing over the past 7 days must be sufficient to conduct 30 tests per 1,000 residents per month.” Central New York is close, but falling short, according to a region by region status chart.
Below are the regional guidelines for reopening New York, according to Cuomo.
CDC Guidelines
1. CDC Guidelines: Based on CDC recommendations, regions must experience a 14-day decline in hospitalizations and deaths on a 3-day rolling average. Regions with few COVID cases cannot exceed 15 new to
For more information and resources on COVID-19, visit the county online or call the Madison County Non-emergency COVID-19 Hotline at 315-366-2770.
tal cases or 5 new deaths on a 3-day rolling average. A region must have fewer than two new COVID patients admitted per 100,000 residents per day.
2. Priority Industries for Reopening: Businesses in each region will re-open in phases.
Phase One
• Construction
• Manufacturing and wholesale supply chain
• Select retail using curbside pickup only Phase Two
• Professional services
• Finance and insurance
• Retail
• Administrative support
• Real estate and rental leasing
Phase Three
• Restaurants and food service
• Hotels and accommodations
Phase Four
• Arts, entertainment and recreation
• Education
3. Business Precautions: Each business and industry must have a plan to protect employees and consumers, make the physical work space safer and implement processes that lower risk of infection in the business.
• Adjust workplace hours and shift design as necessary to reduce density in the workplace
• Enact social distancing protocols
• Restrict non-essential travel for employees
• Require all employees and customers to wear masks if in frequent contact with others
• Implement strict cleaning and sanitation standards
• Enact a continuous health screening process for individuals to enter the workplace
• Continue tracing, tracking and reporting of cases
• Develop liability processes
4. Building Health Care Capacity: To maintain the phased re-opening plan, each region must have at least 30 percent total hospital beds and ICU beds available after elective surgeries resume. This is coupled with the new requirement that hospitals have at least 90 days of PPE stockpiled
5. Testing Regimen: Regions must implement a testing regimen that prioritizes symptomatic persons and individuals who came into contact with a symptomatic person, and conducts frequent tests of frontline and essential workers. Each region must have the capacity to conduct 30 diagnostic tests for every 1,000 residents per month. Regions must maintain an appropriate number of testing sites to accommodate its population and must fully advertise where and how people can get tested. The region must also use the collected data to track and trace the spread of the virus.
6. Tracing System: Regions must have a baseline of 30 contact tracers for every 100,000 residents, and additional tracers based on the projected number of cases in the region. The region must also monitor the regional infection rate throughout the re-opening plan.
7. Isolation Facilities: Regions must present plans to have rooms available for people who test positive for COVID-19 and who cannot self-isolate
According to county data, testing has been on the rise. However, this increase is largely due to targeted testing, much of which was triggered by facility outbreaks.
More testing has been going on county-wide outside of controlling outbreaks, as well. The criteria for individuals to receive testing has expanded since the pandemic’s beginning, going beyond requiring individuals to have symptoms or have been in close contact to a confirmed positive COVID-19 case.
According to the county’s website, testing criteria now includes most essential workers, healthcare personnel, first responders, and nursing home or residential care employees. Testing can also be determined as appropriate on a case by case basis. Testing still needs to be approved by a healthcare provider.
To date, there have been over 2,330 tests administered to county residents. Nearly 85% of that testing has come back negative.
It’s unclear why Central NY, which additionally includes, Onondaga,
Oswego, Cayuga, and Cortland counties, is still falling behind the state’s standards.
For example, Oneida County, which is part of the soon-to-reopen-region, the Mohawk Valley, has testing available through Rite Aid to anyone who qualifies and signs up, as well as a state-lead site designated for essential workers only. A health care provider does not need to sign off on these testing sites.
Regardless of what needs to be done, Central NY still has until Friday, May 15 to pull ahead and meet all seven metrics.
For more information and resources on COVID-19, visit the county online or call the Madison County Non-emergency COVID-19 Hotline at 315366-2770.