Broome & Tioga COVID Positivity Rates Tick High

Broome County’s positivity rate for coronavirus infections is going up over the past few days along with the pandemic death toll while Tioga County's average infection rate is in double-digits for the rolling 7-day average.

County officials report two more people died over the weekend bringing the death toll to 112.  There were 135 new cases reported from the November 13 update, bringing the total positive cases to-date to 4,279.  According to the New York State Health Department, Broome’s positivity rate is at 3.47% as of November 15.  The current seven-day rolling average is 3.15%.  The good news is that’s down from the positivity rate for October 25 through the 31^st when it was reported by the state at 6%.

Broome County is working to reach a positivity rate of below two percent as it continues to operate under stricter regulations as a Yellow Zone micro-cluster in the state.

There were no additional deaths in the November 16 report for any other counties in the Southern Tier but the infection rates continue to climb.  Chenango reported 21 new cases for a total of 501, Cortland had 14 new cases for a total of 1, 102, Delaware County reports three new cases for a total of 276 while Tioga County added 19 cases from its last update on Saturday for a total of 967.

Tioga County has its own Yellow Zone in Waverly and the State reports Tioga's positivity rate at 6.25% on November 15 and a rolling 7-day average of 10.12%.