Coronavirus Updates for Jan. 15: Latimer Says Rise in Deaths, Hospitalizations in Westchester County is a ‘Continuing Tragedy’
Westchester County Executive George Latimer issued concern on Thursday that residents have become almost desensitized to the daily impacts the coronavirus pandemic continues to have on the community.
While the county may be out of the woods following a significant holiday surge following Christmas and New Year’s Eve, infection rates, hospitalizations and fatalities continue to be recorded at high rates. Despite the roll out of the COVID vaccine, he said the data is still significant.
“The concerns that have we have the increase of infection, increase in hospitalizations and increase in fatalities is that we’re not talking about that,” Latimer said during a Thursday briefing. “That we are in the process of becoming inured to these numbers when everyone of these people who has died is a human being.”
The county reported 13 more deaths, resulting in a total of 1,763 COVID-19-related fatalities since March, according to the state tracker. This week 42 people have died from the virus, state data shows, with 99 overall fatalities since the start of the new year.
As of Jan. 12, there are 554 virus patients in Westchester hospitals, an increase of 50 within a three-day span. Latimer said that while the numbers are concerning, it’s about half what the peak hospitalization rate was at the height of the pandemic last spring.
“The numbers continue to rise even with the presence of a vaccine starting to be disseminated,” Latimer said. “This is the continuing tragedy of COVID that we’re not yet past.”
Coronavirus cases increased by 723 on Thursday, bringing the total number of positive cases to 80,869 since the start of the pandemic. There are now 11,208 active cases, according to state data, another decrease over the previous day.
The county’s daily positivity rate is currently 6.74 percent, according to state data, with that percentage based on 10,720 tests taken on Tuesday. Overall, there have been over 1.57 million COVID-19 tests administered in Westchester since March, state data shows.
Putnam County’s total caseload has reached 6,067, with 53 additional positive cases recorded on Thursday, according to state data. The county’s daily positivity rate is 7.42 percent, with 714 tests administered Tuesday.
Putnam currently has 1,236 active cases, another minor reduction over the previous day.
There have been 70 coronavirus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic. No new deaths were reported on Thursday.
Statewide there were 13,661 new positive cases on Thursday. The daily positivity rate is 6.42 percent.
The state recorded 202 additional COVID-19-related fatalities, bringing the death toll to 32,379 since March.
Total hospitalizations are at 8,823, a decrease of 106 over the previous day. Across New York there have been 1,183,608 positive coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, according to the state tracker.
As of Tuesday, there have been a total number of 645,037 vaccine doses administered.
Here are the latest updates on Jan. 15
The vaccination process is currently underway for phases 1A and 1B with the Westchester County Center serving as a state-run health facility for inoculation.
Wondering if you’re eligible to receive the vaccine?
The list of eligible workers and the form to register is available at https://am-i-eligible.covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/Public/prescreener.
Westchester Active Coronavirus Cases by Municipality
Here are the active cases by municipality in Westchester as of Thursday. With a lag between the total number of cases confirmed by the state and the tally of cases by town, the total number of municipal cases might be slightly different than what the county’s active cases reflects.
- Ardsley – 34
- Bedford – 163
- Briarcliff Manor – 69
- Bronxville – 73
- Buchanan – 55
- Cortlandt – 413
- Croton-on-Hudson – 86
- Dobbs Ferry – 102
- Eastchester – 194
- Elmsford – 48
- Greenburgh – 455
- Harrison – 282
- Hastings-on-Hudson – 57
- Irvington – 36
- Larchmont – 42
- Lewisboro – 58
- Mamaroneck Town – 112
- Mamaroneck Village – 258
- Mount Kisco – 111
- Mount Pleasant – 223
- Mount Vernon – 679
- New Castle – 122
- New Rochelle – 910
- North Castle – 99
- North Salem – 60
- Ossining Town – 47
- Ossining Village – 447
- Peekskill – 440
- Pelham – 61
- Pelham Manor – 59
- Pleasantville – 60
- Port Chester – 398
- Pound Ridge – 24
- Rye Brook – 100
- Rye City – 166
- Scarsdale – 91
- Sleepy Hollow – 185
- Somers – 227
- Tarrytown – 187
- Tuckahoe – 85
- White Plains – 683
- Yonkers – 2,784
- Yorktown – 536
