Latimer Offers Sobering Stats on Post Holiday COVID Surge in Westchester
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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(Updated January 7, 2021) County Executive George Latimer delivered what he called “sobering statistics” at his COVID briefing on January 4, 2021. Though he had hoped that the spread was decreasing in Westchester the numbers are going the wrong way. Latimer said that active cases in the county had climbed 1,400 in just one week, from 7,957 to 9,389. As a point of comparison, before Thanksgiving there were 6,000 active cases in the county.
Latimer said this surge was thought to be due to Christmas and New Year’s get-togethers and feared that Dr. Fauci’s prediction that January could be the worst month of the pandemic might turn out to be true.
Since almost all public celebrations were cancelled, Latimer surmised that the surge was due to gatherings in private homes where people are not wearing masks or practicing social distancing. He reported that on Friday, January 1, 1,000 new cases were reported.
To date, 1,683 people in Westchester County have died, 31 people in the past seven days and 41 the previous week. In the six-week period from Thanksgiving to New Years, 165 people died, the same number who died in total in the five months from May to October.
In terms of hospitalization, 455 were in the hospital as of January 2, 2021. This count grew by 63 from the prior week when 392 were hospitalized.
Latimer reported that New York State is now following the new CDC protocol for quarantines which allows people who were exposed to COVID but have no symptoms to return to normal life after ten days.
The county COVID dashboard shows 71 active cases in Scarsdale as of January 7, down from over 80 cases at Christmas time but up from 59 on January 4, 2021. See the county COVID dashboard here.
The Scarsdale Schools also sent an email on January 4 outlining the number of positive cases reported during the school vacation. According to the email:
“During the latter part of break and today, we learned of eight new positive cases of Covid-19. One of the cases involved a staff member in the Facilities Department and the others were students from Quaker Ridge School, Edgewood School, Scarsdale Middle School and Scarsdale High School.
The staff member was last in school on December 30 and placed on quarantine due to symptoms. The staff member had no contact with students and the staff who had contact with the individual were instructed to quarantine.
The positive students were last in the building prior to break and the timing of their tests precludes the need for in school contact tracing.”
What Happened to the Westchester County COVID Map?
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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What happened to the COVID counts by Village and why are there no more COVID maps from the County?
After a week of wondering where the COVID counts were going, County Executive George Latimer held a COVID briefing at 2 pm on Monday December 21 and explained why he had made the decision to stop sending out the maps.
Latimer explained that the counts on the maps were based on individual records of positive COVID counts by name and address from the state. The county had been taking this data, aggregating it by zip code and producing the map that was then published on the county’s Facebook page.
However, Latimer said that often the data was 3 or 4 days old by the time the map was issued and that zip codes are not unique to one Village, so some of the counts may have crossed Village lines. He used Scarsdale as an example, saying that the 10583 zip code also includes parts of Yonkers, Eastchester and New Rochelle, so that map might not reflect what is actually going on in the Scarsdale School district.
He said that the county was working on a better analysis and said he hoped to issue new information by the end of this week…. December 25.
In the meantime he reported on the numbers for Westchester County overall where, as of Sunday December 20, the positive rate was 5.3% with a 7-day average of 5.9%. You can check the daily counts for the county on the NYS website here.
Latimer reported that there were a total of 8,269 active cases on Monday, almost double the 4,344 active cases on November 20, just before Thanksgiving. However, in the last five days, cases have decreased somewhat, hitting a high of 8,771 on December 15 and falling to 8,269 on Sunday December 20. Latimer said it was too early to tell if this was a trend. The county is still seeing about 500 new positive cases a day, a 5% ratio to the number tested. (As of Tuesday, December 22, cases had climbed back up to 8,910 with a 6% positive rate.)
About the numbers in the hospital, as of Saturday December 19, 353 were in County hospitals with COVID. This has risen steadily from 348 one week ago, 321 two weeks ago, 244 three weeks ago and 168 a month ago. As there are 2,400 beds in Westchester County hospitals, he reported that we are not reaching capacity.
A total of 1,606 people have died from COVID in Westchester since the beginning of the crisis. This week 44 people passed away and two weeks ago we lost 35 people.
The NYS School tracker as of 12/18 reported 29 positive cases among students in the Scarsdale Schools and 21 staff/teachers.
So if you’re wondering how many people in Scarsdale are positive, stay tuned. Latimer is promising new information by the end of the week. In the meantime, click here for statewide statistics.
Cuomo and Latimer Ask Residents to be Vigilant: COVID Cases Jump 55% in Scarsdale
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- Written by: Joanne Wallenstein
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It was another big week for the spread of COVID in Westchester and statewide, according to briefings from both Governor Andrew Cuomo and Westchester County Executive George Latimer.
As of December 7, Latimer reported 7,830 active cases in the county, up from 5,764 a week ago and more than double the count of 3,480 three weeks ago. He said the active case count had not been this high since April 28 when there were 8,000 active cases.
The Governor is keeping his eye on hospitalizations and Latimer estimated that about 300 are in the hospital with COVID at this time. With 3,000 hospital beds in the county, there is currently available capacity. He reported that hospitalizations are growing at 15-20 per day and we are losing about two people per night.
Latimer noted that since all civic activities have stopped but the virus is still spreading it is an indication that it is spreading in private settings. Governor Cuomo said, “We’re closely monitoring hospital capacity and have implemented triggers to ensure hospitals have what they need. The light at the end of the tunnel is the vaccine, and one is coming, but until then we must be disciplined. Public health experts agree households and private gatherings are a major driver of transmission right now, demonstrating once again that it is our actions that determine the infection rate. We know what works: wear a mask, avoid indoor gatherings, and socially distance, and the local governments must do enforcement. We will win this war but it will take vigilance and everyone working together.”
The Governor has directed all hospitals to increase their bed capacity by 25% and called on retired doctors and nurses to return to service.
As of now, Cuomo has not declared any new yellow or orange zones in Westchester. They remain as they were last week with the following areas zoned due to their positivity rates:
Peekskill – yellow – 10.59% rolling average
Ossining – yellow – 8.68%
Tarrytown/Sleepy Hollow – yellow – 5.7%
Yonkers – yellow – 5.76%
New Rochelle – yellow – 5.94%
Port Chester – orange – 11.42%
Also note as of December 7, the number of active cases in Scarsdale has climbed to 67, up 24 cases from December 1, 2020.
Latimer Reports Another Sharp Increase in COVID Cases this Week
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Unfortunately, predictions about a post-Thanksgiving surge in COVID cases are turning out to be accurate. At a briefing on November 30, 2020, County Executive George Latimer reported that the prior days numbers continue to show a sharp increase in the rate of infection. As of November 30, there were 6,117 active cases in Westchester, up more than 1,300 from the prior week’s count of 4,800 active cases. Two weeks ago, the active case count was 3,515 so the county has seen a 74% increase in active cases in just 14 days.
The number of active cases is alarming as is the infection rate which Latimer reported was 5.6% for the last 24 hours. The infection rate for the two prior days was 4.7% and 5.0%.
Hospitalizations are on the rise as well, but so far the number of cases can be accommodated by Westchester’s hospitals. As of Monday 244 were in the hospital with COVID as compared to 168 a week ago and 121 two weeks ago.
And finally 15 people passed away last week, and in the last two weeks, the county lost a total of 25 people.
Latimer said he had spoken to the Governor whose priorities are to:
-Manage hospitalizations and staffing.
-Make sure we have testing – especially for school students and staff.
-Stop the spread of the virus at fall gatherings.
He commented that the county has already shutdown sports, gatherings, meetings and public events and therefore it is up to individuals to stop the spread. Latimer noted that there was no change in designated yellow and orange zones since last week.
Finally as of December 1, the case count in Scarsdale had risen to 43, an all-time high.
One Down, Two To Go: Girls Varsity A Soccer Moves On To The Next Round Of Playoffs
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- Written by: Sophia Caione
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Jojo Denion, #16, chest trapping a ball in the air. On Thursday, November 19th, the Girls Varsity A Soccer team was triumphant- once again- claiming victory against Ardsley in round one of the playoffs. The victory was captured through stylistic goals and a strong team presence on the field. Intense pressure was put on Ardsley from the start, as the Raiders presented an urge to win, but beyond winning, to conquer the field a by an overwhelming margin.
The final score was 6-2; The first 4 goals were scored in the first half of the game, leaving Ardsley with a large gap to fill. Ardsley had a difficult time catching up as their play was mostly “kick and chase”. The Raiders defensive line, lead by Captains Victoria Von Redden, #17, and Emily Yacob, #19, proved to be fierce as they stopped breakaways, captured long balls, and maneuvered through Ardsley’s attacking players. Additionally, senior goalkeeper Dylan Gross, #35, was a powerful and leading communicator on the field, commanding the defense and encouraging her teammates.
Season leading scorers, Alessia Schettino, #20, and Riena Parente Ribeiro, #7, were two leading performers during the first playoff game. Both players scored two goals each, in addition to one goal scored by Jojo Denion, #16, and one goal scored by Lizzie Wachs, #23. Lola Tirabassi, #13, showed her skills by providing 4 assists, and Victoria Von Redden demonstrated that a defensive player could do it all by assisting a goal.
Kate Braverman, #6, maneuvers around an Ardsley player.
Schettino put constant pressure on Ardsely’s defense and was highly aggressive in the final third of the field, especially when it came time to shoot and score. Riena Parente Ribeiro, nicknamed “RPR” by her coaches and teammates has been an essential part of the midfield. Parente Riberio acknowledges that “after a strong start, our team started to struggle to connect simple passes and there were a few miscommunications. [However,] we were able to overcome these difficulties and dominated the end of the second half. We ended the game with a confident mindset to lead us to the semifinals.”
Audrey Gendel, #9, dribbles around Ardsley.
The second playoff game against rivals New Rochelle-on Saturday, November 21st-will be packed with action, competition, and heart. Schettino says, in the next playoff game “We need to capitalize on our opportunities... If we see the net, we have to score.” Parente Riberio comments that “New Rochelle is a tough opponent and we always look forward to playing them because they are our rivals and a competitive team. The stakes are going to be higher than during our previous games and both teams will bring 100%. I’m excited for the energy and the competition.” Girls Varsity A Soccer will put their all into every second of the game, until the desired outcome.
Photos and text by Sophia Caione.
Abigail Talish, #14.
