Coronavirus Update, March 3, 2021

Active cases of COVID-19 have been on a downward trend in Tompkins County.

According to the County’s local coronavirus data, the weekly average for new positive cases is 9 a day.

9 new positive cases a day -- the last time this was the average was in Early November, before the well predicted holiday spike of COVID-19 cases.

As warm weather approaches and vaccines are being rolled out, it seems like Tompkins County is turning a corner on the long journey of COVID-19.

But Tompkins County Public Health Director, Frank Kruppa, made it clear we're not out of the woods yet.  He said, "It doesn’t take much to see a spike in cases."

To make it to the finish line, and avoid another spike in cases, everyone must continue following public health guidance.

Kruppa said, "We need fully vaccinated people to continue following thee public health guidance. I know that’s going to be hard for some people. But it’s really important, because not everyone is vaccinated yet. And we need to continue to protect those who are most vulnerable amongst us."

The County Health Department has a COVID-19 Vaccine registry form. To access it, you can find it on the county website.

WRFI Community Contributor Fred Balfour reported for this story.

In COVID news, the Tompkins County Health Department received 2,470 doses of the COVID vaccine for this week. This is the largest vaccine allocation the county has received so far. 

About 1,600 of those doses are or those 65 and older. 300 does are for anyone with underlying health conditions, regardless of age. 600 doses are for workers in phase 1B, P-12 school workers and in-person college instructors. 

If eligible, you can sign up for the Covid-19 Vaccine Registry to receive direct communication for when doses are available. 

The Covid-19 mass vaccination site at the New York State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, will now be providing services 24 hours a day.

Thousands of new appointments will open at 8 AM this Thursday. These appointments will be for slots from 10 PM to 6 AM and will be for the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, which only requires one dose. These new appointments will begin this Friday.

Those who are interested in scheduling an appointment can visit New York State’s Am I eligible website or call 1-833-697-4829.

Kinney Drugs is working with the Association on Aging to introduce a 10-week vaccination pilot program.

They’re setting up clinics to administer shots to those ages 65 and older.

Telephone assistance will be available to help seniors make vaccine appointments for the clinics.

The program is launching in twenty one New York counties. The hope is to help seniors who have faced challenges in scheduling appointments online.

Tompkins County is reporting 12 new positive cases of COVID-19. There are a total of 81 active cases.

Schuyler County is seeing 0 new cases. Schuyler has a total of 17 active COVID cases.