Oneida County COVID-19 Cases Rising

Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. announced today that COVID-19 cases are rising, hitting 97 today, the highest number recorded since Jan. 29.

“Likely fueled by the Delta variant, Oneida County COVID-19 cases have been rising throughout the month of August, culminating in 97 today,” Picente said. “This is a concerning trend, especially with the return to school right around the corner. We must strengthen our resolve in this fight. Vaccination is our best weapon to reduce spread and severity of symptoms and I urge everyone to get one immediately. Regardless of vaccination status, masks are also strongly recommended to impede transmission and I encourage our residents to use them for protection in indoor public settings. We have been here before and we know what is effective. Let’s use the lessons we have learned these past 18 months to get through this tumultuous time together.”

In a live updating briefing conducted Thursday afternoon, Picente laid out several concerning trends in the county’s COVID-19 case numbers including:

• 165 children under the age of 17 have tested positive in the month of August, at a time when they are not attending school.
• 21 county residents are currently hospitalized because of COVID-19, the highest number since April 26.
• The county is averaging 64 cases per day, the highest average since early February.
• The average age of positives currently stands at 37 years-old.
• The positivity rate for the county is currently 3.2% and has remained in that range on a seven day average the entire month of August.
• In the month of July, 75% of all positive cases were non-vaccinated, and to this point in August, 73% were non-vaccinated. That translates to two-thirds of every positive case over the past two months being unvaccinated.
• Since Jan. 1, 98% of those who have been vaccinated have not contracted COVID-19.
• 91% of all hospitalizations since Jan. 1 have been unvaccinated.
• Unvaccinated county residents are four times more likely to test positive and 80 times more likely to be hospitalized because of COVID-19.

You can view today’s update briefing here: https://fb.watch/7DKxuoSlcx/.