Jun 28

Jun 28 Oneida County Executive Picente says younger people rising percent of COVID cases, 'baffled' by businesses excluded in Phase 4 By Luke Perry

The Mohawk Valley recently entered Phase 4 of COVID-19 reopening. Phase 4 includes higher education, low-risk outdoor and indoor arts and entertainment, and media production. Governor Cuomo excluded gyms, malls, and movie theaters.

“Those businesses are very disappointed,” Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente told Talk of the Town (WUTQ in Utica). “'I don’t understand it.”

“The mall thing really baffles me more than others,” Picente said. “I get the gym issue, as far as making sure there is proper P.P.E. and distancing and that’s a hard one because of the exercising,” yet “we’re allowing people to go to church.” Picente believes there is a way to reopen these businesses safely. “I’m hopeful. We’ve seen the Governor flip a lot on these things” and “we’ll keep the pressure on.”

Cuomo subsequently announced the businesses in question would not reopen until the state Health Department can research and evaluate if air-filtering systems are circulating COVID, and if so, if filters can be installed to stop this.

COVID metrics in the Mohawk Valley have been “on the decline and the best we’ve seen since the early days of this virus,” Picente said. The county continues to test at a high volume and the infection rate is low. The number of people hospitalized and admitted to Intensive Care Units have also both decreased.

The county is testing people who have a high risk of exposure as well as those who do not. Picente believes that additional testing of healthcare workers explains why new cases steadily persist.

The age of infection is going down in the Mohawk Valley and throughout the country. Picente said cases are trending towards people in their “30s, 20s, and even teens, in areas. They’re out more. The weather is better. That’s showing how this virus is spreading.”

Many of the younger cases are asymptomatic, Picente said, “which is a good thing except whether or not they can spread it to the elderly population. That we’ve always been concerned about.”

The county is not currently able to test many younger people. “We have to look at ways we can do that on a wider spread basis,” Picente said.

Picente reported 25 new positive cases who are employees of an aluminum manufacturer in Montgomery County and reside in Oneida County. The county health department has been tracking this development, along with the health departments from Montgomery County and New York State.

There has been “investigation and targeted testing of its employees.” Picente said that “more positive cases may be reflected from this as the results of additional testing becomes known."

The employees were among 36 new cases on Sunday. The total of confirmed COVID cases in Oneida County is 1,529 with 90 deaths.

Luke Perry (@PolSciLukePerry) is Professor of Government at Utica College