Broome Executive Says New COVID Records Continue to be Set

Broome County Executive Jason Garnar says the records for new cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations continue to fall by the wayside as healthcare workers brace for a spike in patients following the holidays.

Broome January 4 reported 61 new cases for a total of 8,452 since the start of the pandemic. A man in his 40s has died, bringing the death toll in the County to 177. There were 111 people being treated in area hospitals.

Chenango County, which had not provided an update since New Year’s Eve, posted the biggest increase in cases in the region at 117 for a total of 1,296. Deaths remained unchanged at 18. Cortland County reports 20 new cases for a total of 2,575 with deaths unchanged at 45. Deaths were also unchanged in Delaware County, holding at 15 but there were a dozen new cases of COVID-19 reported for a total of 784. Tioga County added 48 new cases from its last report on January 2 for a total of 1,813 cases since the start of the pandemic in mid-March.  Deaths remained at 64.

Pennsylvania health officials say the number of new cases and deaths due to the coronavirus pandemic continue to rise but not at the pace from mid-December.  Health commissioner Rachel Levine reports an increase of 40,400 cases for the last week of December while the previous week the increase had been 48,883.

Braford County continues to lead the Northern Tier in cases with 3,169 cases and 56 deaths followed by Wayne County at 1,971 and 18 deaths and Susquehanna County at 1,068 positive results and 39 deaths.