Broome Climb in COVID Hospitalizations “Very, Very” Concerning
Broome County Executive Jason Garnar says he’s “very, very concerned” about the rise in the number of hospitalizations due to the coronavirus pandemic over the past week.
In his weekly update on October 15, the Democrat said the county is in constant contact with the local hospitals regarding their capacity to admit patients as the county again recorded over 100 new cases from the previous day.
According to the county’s dashboard updated October 15, 92 residents were hospitalized with COVID-19. Garnar also reported on October 15 that a woman in her 80s had passed away due to the pandemic, bringing Broome County's death toll to 389.
Broome reported 105 new cases in the Friday update, 780 active cases and, of the number of new cases reported over the past seven days, 39.4% were breakthrough cases in residents who had received a COVID-19 vaccine. The year-to-date rate of breakthrough cases is reported at 25.4%.
Garnar could not specify how many, if any of those requiring hospitalization had been breakthrough cases but the majority of data has indicated the chances of serious illness in those who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 remains very low. Garnar says he had been told most of the patients who have had to be admitted to the hospital are unvaccinated.
The County Executive says the new cases, especially in the unvaccinated, is putting a big strain on the already over-taxed healthcare workers and that could be completely avoided by residents who are eligible getting the vaccine.
Garnar is also encouraging people to get the seasonal flu shot to try to keep those case numbers down and keep the rate of people with the flu requiring hospitalization low.