The Peru Gazette

H ere are today’s Clinton County, NY COVID-19 case updates, as well as answers to commonly asked questions from our followers.

Q: Are college students included in case counts reported by CCHD?
A: Yes, case counts reported by CCHD include anyone living in Clinton County, NY at the time of their illness (or death). Contact tracing, and isolation or quarantine orders are completed just as they would be for any other resident.

Q: Why does the number of active cases reported by CCHD fluctuate so much?
A: Active cases reflect the number of individuals currently infected with COVID-19. This number can fluctuate as individuals move to the recovered category and as new cases are added. Some labs are taking a particularly long time to report test results. This is not something that we have control over, but it does sometimes affect when cases are reported to you, and how soon after you see individuals move to the recovered category.
Note: The isolation period for an asymptomatic person (a person who tests positive for COVID-19, but has no symptoms) begins on the date their test is collected. For an asymptomatic person (a person with symptoms of COVID-19), isolation starts when their symptoms began.

Q: What does being “recovered” from COVID-19 mean?
A: The word “recovered” is used to describe someone who is no longer infectious, or able to pass the virus to another person. This also means that when a person is “recovered,” isolation can be discontinued. A person who is recovered may still experience ongoing effects from the virus.
For full details on when a person is considered “recovered,” or when isolation can be discontinued, visit https://bit.ly/32nBUXM. In general, for an individual with symptoms of COVID-19, isolation starts when their symptoms began and continues for a minimum of 10 days, and until there is no fever for at least 24 hours (without the use of fever-reducing medications) and symptoms have improved.

Q: What’s with the probable category?
A: There are multiple criteria that may place an individual in the probable category. For the probable case definition used by NYS, visit https://bit.ly/3en5n7o. Some examples of criteria that may place an individual in the probable category can include an indeterminate test result or antibody test results. If a person is found to have antibodies, they may also already be considered “recovered.” If a person receives indeterminate test results, they may be retested and subsequently test positive or negative. A person in the probable category may remain in the probable category, may be moved to the confirmed case category, or maybe removed from numbers if they are determined to not be a COVID-19 case, all based on epidemiology criteria. Note that this is not a category that CCHD developed. A case definition is a set of uniform criteria used to define a disease for public health surveillance. These enable public health officials to classify and count cases consistently across reporting jurisdictions.

We understand that numbers and data related to COVID-19 can be confusing. Please know the health and safety of Clinton County residents is CCHD’s number one priority at all times. All information shared is done so with the intent of keeping the public informed and safe. While we do provide case count updates daily (Monday-Friday) overall trends provide more insight into how we as a community are doing, as opposed to one set of numbers on any given day. Overall, we are doing well as a community in keeping case counts low. However, as recent outbreaks in other communities have shown us, the risk for infection to spread quickly persists.

COVID-19 is still present in our community. Now is not the time to relax. Avoid large gatherings, keep physical distance of at least 6 feet from those outside your household, wear a mask, and wash your hands frequently. Continuing to work together is how Clinton County can help stop the spread.