News Flash

Please see below for the Daily COVID-19 Update for Schuyler County, NY. We did not receive notification of any new positive cases of COVID-19 today or over the weekend.

Please remember that this virus can spread rapidly if people don’t follow public health precautions. We have been very fortunate so far compared to many of our neighboring counties, but we need to keep it up. One person with the virus who is not following public health precautions could easily change the tide in Schuyler County. Take care of yourself, your loved ones, and our community by wearing a mask in public, limiting contact with people who aren’t members of your household, washing your hands often, and cleaning/disinfecting frequently touched surfaces. And if you do feel ill, even if you only feel a little sick, get tested then stay home.

To learn more about how public health precautions work together to slow the spread of COVID-19, please visit: http://schuylercounty.us/DocumentCenter/View/8858/COVID-19-Prevention-How-it-works. 

If you plan to travel, please self-quarantine for 14 days upon your return to keep our community healthy. There are currently 19 states covered by the travel advisory: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah. The State will regularly update this list based upon a seven-day rolling average of positive tests in excess of 10%, or number of positive cases exceeding 10 per 100,000 residents. Stay current on the travel advisory by visiting: https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/covid-19-travel-advisory. 

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I do my part to protect myself, my loved ones, and my community?

• Wear a mask when out in public places.
• Social distance by keeping at least six feet between yourself and people who aren’t members of your household.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially when you get home after being in public.
• Get tested for COVID-19, especially if you have symptoms. COVID-19 diagnostic testing is available to all New Yorkers as of July 1^st. To find testing locations, visit: https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/find-test-site-near-you. Check with your insurance provider and the testing site as some locations may charge a fee for testing.
• Stay home if you are sick – even if your illness is mild.
• Weigh your risk if you choose to travel this summer as the virus is spreading rapidly in many states. Before making travel plans, check to see if the state you are traveling to is covered by the travel advisory. If you do choose to travel to a state with high levels of COVID-19 spreading in the community, you should self-quarantine for 14 days upon your return to New York State. For the current list of states, visit: https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/covid-19-travel-advisory.

Are the people who tested positive the only people in the County with COVID-19?

The table above only includes individuals who have been tested for COVID-19. There could be other people with COVID-19 in the community who haven’t been tested and have mild symptoms or no symptoms at all. That’s why it is important we all continue to wash our hands, practice social distancing, and follow other public health precautions.

What happens when someone tests positive?

When someone tests positive, they are put in mandatory isolation until they are no longer considered at high risk of transmitting COVID-19 to others based on criteria set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH).Our office also conducts contact tracing to identify people who may have been exposed to the virus by the person who tested positive.

What is contact tracing?

For contact tracing, we work with the individual to determine where the person went and who they had contact with both while they had symptoms and during the 48 hours before their symptoms started, per CDC and NYSDOH guidance. People are considered at risk of getting COVID-19 if they are in the same household with someone with COVID-19, had direct physical contact with someone with COVID-19 or with their infectious secretions, or were within 6 feet of someone with COVID-19 for 10 minutes or more. Walking through the same public setting as someone who tested positive does not make someone a close contact. If someone who tested positive reports they were in a public setting and our investigation reveals high risk close contact occurred, we will inform the community and provide instructions on what community members should do if they were at the location.

How do I know if I have been identified as a close contact?

Any people identified as contacts of the person who tested positive will be contacted by the health department and put in quarantine at their home. They are released from quarantine once it has been 14 days since they were exposed to the person with COVID-19, unless they develop symptoms of COVID-19. Our staff conduct daily check-ins with both the individual who tested positive and their contacts to monitor their health and to check that the individuals are following the quarantine or isolation orders.

What does recovered mean?

A person is considered recovered once all three of the following happen:

1. It has been 10 or more days since their symptoms started
2. Their symptoms have improved significantly (some symptoms such as a slight cough may continue for awhile after they have recovered)
3. They have been fever-free for 3 days in a row without a fever-reducing medicine

Can you tell me more about antibody testing?

The COVID-19 diagnostic test checks for the presence of the virus at the time of sampling. Antibody testing is different – it checks to see if you have ever had the virus. Because this is a new virus, scientists are still figuring out:

1. If having the virus protects you from getting it again in the future (provides immunity) and
2. If having the virus does provide immunity, how long does that protection last