June 30 update from Health Department on COVID-19 cases

June 30, 2022 by Rachel Cera in 14850 Today

The Tompkins County Health Department says there have now been 22,436 total positive cases in Tompkins County, 24 more than on Wednesday, and a total of 1,918,336 tests conducted. The Health Department is also now reporting positive self-test results that have been submitted through their online portal. They say there are 6 new positive self-test results for a total of 3,161 submitted.

As of Thursday at 8:30am, the Health Department says 375 tests were conducted in the previous day.The Cayuga Health sampling site at the Ithaca Mall will be closed on Monday, July 4 for the Independence Day holiday.

The Tompkins County Health Department publishes NYS vaccine tracking info, showing 86,383 Tompkins County residents have a first dose and 78,981 have completed vaccination (which could be one or two doses, depending on vaccine).

The Health Department says four people are currently hospitalized for COVID-19, one fewer than in Wednesday’s update. As of a shift in data last winter, “TCHD is reporting only active cases who are hospitalized,” rather than including patients recovered from COVID who remain hospitalized for other reasons.

“Of the recent uptick in hospitalizations, a vast majority have been of vaccinated individuals,” Tompkins County Public Health Director Frank Kruppa tells us, but “of the individuals who are vaccinated and have been hospitalized for COVID-19 related reasons, the trend holds that they are largely older adults, age 65+. This data points to the importance of boosters and 2nd boosters for those age 65+.”

There have been 63 deaths from COVID-19 recorded among Tompkins County residents, including the death of an area resident reported in mid June.

On June 26, Cornell University reported 14 active student cases and 34 active faculty and staff cases. Cornell has switched to weekly updates, and the timing of their updates doesn’t allow a direct comparison to the county’s statistics.

As of June 29, Ithaca College reported one active student case, with 593 recovered, and three active employee cases and 268 recovered employees.

The Health Department says the public needs to prevent the spread of COVID-19 not just to protect themselves, but others in our community who are most vulnerable to getting very sick – older adults, those who are immune-compromised, and those with underlying chronic health conditions.

TCHD’s Frank Kruppa says, “There is a very high vaccination rate for our community, especially with the successes that have been reported by our local colleges. In addition to the arrival and surveillance testing, many of our new cases are arising from sustained close contact with a positive individual, meaning more than 10 minutes within six feet of a positive case. These close contacts are occurring more frequently in large indoor gatherings that mix different groups of people.”

“Over the past few weeks, our efforts have focused on vaccinating our young people and providing booster doses to those who are eligible,” Kruppa says. “We are distributing self-tests and masks throughout the county as we receive shipments and thank our community partners for assisting in this effort.”

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