COVID Death Tolls Grows in Westchester, Putnam; Latimer Offers Update on High-Risk Sports

As active cases of COVID-19 start to slowly decline in Westchester and Putnam counties, both areas continue to see the fatality rate rise and daily testing remain in the thousands.

Coronavirus cases in Westchester County increased by 834 on Saturday, bringing the total number of positive cases to 88,404 since the start of the pandemic, state data shows. There are now 11,462 active cases, a decrease of 19 over the previous day.

The county’s daily positivity rate is 6.40 percent, with 13,024 tests administered on Thursday. Overall, there have been over 1.68 million COVID tests dispensed in Westchester since March.

The county reported four more deaths, bringing the death toll from COVID-19-related fatalities to 1,836 since March. In the last week, 47 people have died from the virus, with 161 overall fatalities since the start of the new year.

As of Thursday, there are 567 virus patients in Westchester hospitals.

Putnam County’s total caseload has reached 6,824, with 76 additional positive cases recorded on Saturday. The county’s daily positivity rate is 6.78 percent, with 1,121 tests administered Thursday, state data shows.

The county currently has 1,179 active cases, a decrease of 18 over the previous day.

One coronavirus-related death was reported on Saturday, raising the county’s total death toll to 76 since the start of the pandemic. There were two virus-related deaths this week and nine since the start of the year, state data shows.

Statewide there were 13,786 new positive cases on Saturday, state data shows. The daily positivity rate is 5.26 percent.

The state recorded 144 additional COVID-19-related fatalities, bringing the death toll to 33,907 since March.

Statewide hospitalizations stand at 8,802, a decrease of 44 over the previous day. Across New York there have been 1,314,267 positive coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, according to the state tracker.

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Here are the latest updates on Jan. 24

On Friday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced high-risk high school sports competitions can proceed starting Feb. 1 after originally postponing them when COVID-19 rates began to significantly rise last year.

However, those high-risk sports, including basketball, football, ice hockey, competitive cheerleading, volleyball, ice hockey, wrestling, and boys lacrosse, can only resume if local health officials grant approval based on certain distinctions. Cuomo said the state will require each county health department to consider COVID-19 rates in its local jurisdiction and the ability to monitor compliance with rules. 

Additionally, local health officials must contemplate the presence of the United Kingdom strain of the virus in their respective county.  

Westchester County currently has three confirmed cases of the U.K. strain. Putnam County has no known cases. 

On Saturday, Westchester County Executive George Latimer indicated on Facebook and Twitter that he is currently working with other county executives in the Hudson Valley to come to a decision since many counties are included in Section One sports. He also noted he is in favor of resuming high school athletics.

Latimer added group of county leaders would be holding a group call on Monday to assess the situation and another with school superintendents and municipal officials.

“My Exec team is now surveying School Districts, consulting with our Health Dept on protocols and checking with neighboring counties as well as getting a formal interpretation of the Governor’s exact authorization,” Latimer said in Facebook post Saturday. “I believe we can do this safely without unnecessary spread of the virus.”

He said a formal statement would be released after the county had done its due diligence.

On Monday, the New York State Public High School Athletic Association will release official new return-to-play guidelines and protocols specific to each high-risk sport. 

Westchester Active Coronavirus Cases by Municipality 

Here are the active cases by municipality in Westchester as of Friday. 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 – 40
• Bedford – 153
• Briarcliff Manor – 73
• Bronxville – 60
• Buchanan – 37
• Cortlandt – 408
• Croton-on-Hudson – 64
• Dobbs Ferry – 86
• Eastchester – 196
• Elmsford – 57
• Greenburgh – 443
• Harrison – 228
• Hastings-on-Hudson – 67
• Irvington – 60
• Larchmont – 59
• Lewisboro – 68
• Mamaroneck Town – 123
• Mamaroneck Village – 237
• Mount Kisco – 125
• Mount Pleasant – 217
• Mount Vernon – 821
• New Castle – 139
• New Rochelle – 944
• North Castle – 86
• North Salem – 54
• Ossining Town – 62
• Ossining Village – 433
• Peekskill – 408
• Pelham – 81
• Pelham Manor – 57
• Pleasantville – 74
• Port Chester – 411
• Pound Ridge – 21
• Rye Brook – 83
• Rye City – 149
• Scarsdale – 101
• Sleepy Hollow – 194
• Somers – 211
• Tarrytown – 202
• Tuckahoe – 85
• White Plains – 605
• Yonkers – 2,904
• Yorktown – 460