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Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Provides Legislature Update on COVID-19 Response

Members of the EOC presented an update on the local COVID-19 response. County Administrator Jason Molino opened the presentation with details on the spike in COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks in Tompkins County. Since the last presentation to the Legislature there have been 439 new positive cases, including a single day high of 61 on December 7th.

Deputy County Administrator Amie Hendrix outlined the current operational priorities of the EOC, breaking down the work of County officials managing the COVID-19 response. The priorities include managing the current caseload, public communications, coordination with community partners, and planning for vaccine distribution in Tompkins County. Officials and Legislators gave special recognition to the Tompkins County Health Department nurses for their work managing contact investigations and tracing since the beginning of the pandemic.

The Tompkins County Health Department (TCHD) announced changes Tuesday to its daily COVID-19 data update. TCHD is committed to being transparent with the COVID-19 data and understands the importance of communicating this information to the public as clearly and accurately as possible.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have emphasized that this continues to be an evolving situation, and we greatly appreciate the public’s patience and ability to adapt. The data we collect is a real-time process that is constantly changing. We are making these changes to have a more streamlined process and make sure that we are reporting testing from all labs,” stated Frank Kruppa, Public Health Director.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced the finalization Tuesday of regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions statewide and implement the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. As the first regulatory requirement of the Climate Act, the adoption of these regulations marks a critical milestone in realizing New York's nation-leading clean energy and climate agenda.

"New York has firmly established itself as a national leader in combatting climate change and with these new regulations in place, we are once again blazing the trail to a cleaner and greener future," Governor Cuomo said. "Climate change is here, it is real, and in the absence of federal leadership, states need to step up and implement real solutions that protect our environment, public health and economy. By implementing these ambitious emission limits on greenhouse gases, New York isn't only taking a tremendous step towards reducing its carbon footprint, but we have set an example for the rest of the country to follow as well."

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed the Protect Our Courts Act (S00425A/A2176A) Tuesday to ensure New Yorkers can freely access the justice system without fear of being targeted by federal immigration authorities. The legislation addresses longstanding concerns that federal immigration enforcement was deterring immigrants from appearing in New York State courts and impeding the fair administration of justice. It builds upon a prior executive order by the Governor and a directive by the chief judge of the New York State Unified Court System.

"Unlike this federal government, New York has always protected our immigrant communities," Cuomo said. "This legislation will ensure every New Yorker can have their day in court without fear of being unfairly targeted by ICE or other federal immigration authorities."

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced Monday that New York is deploying state-of-the-art drone technology to help reduce climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions from aging and abandoned oil and gas infrastructure. DEC and NYSERDA are using high-tech aerial surveillance equipment to locate and plug abandoned, decades-old oil and gas wells that leak methane into the environment. Ton for ton, methane is many times more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas, and is second only to carbon dioxide in its overall contribution to climate change. Representing almost 10 percent of the state’s annual greenhouse gas emissions, methane reduction is a key piece of New York’s nation-leading policies to address the risks from climate change.

DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos said, “With our partners at NYSERDA, DEC is deploying cutting-edge drone technology to map and locate orphan oil and gas wells, some of which were abandoned more than a century ago. Plugging these wells is critical to reducing fugitive methane from escaping into the atmosphere and is further proof that New York is undertaking nation-leading actions to reduce greenhouse gases from sources – large and small – across the state.”

Tompkins County Public Health and Emergency Operations Center officials held a virtual COVID-19 update December 9th detailing the recent spike in positive cases and answering questions from the public. The update is archived on the County's YouTube channel.

Tompkins County Public Health Director Frank Kruppa presented information on the recent spike in cases, guidance to help stop the spread, vaccine distribution planning, and New York State's winter COVID-19 strategy. Kruppa clarified that the County's vaccine distribution plan has been approved by New York State and that his team meets regularly with Cayuga Health System and other community partners to operationalize plans. Kruppa stated, "When you get your vaccine is going to depend on how much we get and how quickly we are able to distribute to the priority populations (healthcare and long-term care workers and residents). We will be very clear about where you can get your vaccine when the time comes." This week, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo shared that the Southern Tier region will receive 4,500 doses of the vaccine initially.

On December 11th Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced new metrics by which micro-cluster focus zones will be determined to help control COVID-19 spread and protect hospital capacity. Additionally, the Governor announced new directives to further grow hospital capacity, as well as updated calibrations to business guidelines based on recent CDC guidance, advice of public health experts, and data from state's contact tracing program. Under these calibrated business guidelines, indoor dining in New York City will be suspended on Monday, December 14, and gyms and salons will now be allowed to remain open with restrictions in Orange Zones.

"We have been setting rules that make sense for everyone, and it is basically all common sense. We invested very heavily in doing COVID testing, and we do more testing than any state in the nation. That gives us actual facts that we can base our actions upon," Cuomo said. "This is not high science we're applying here—these are common-sense rules. Where the virus is highest, you have to take action. We're changing rules for the hospitals in the state. We've already announced that all hospitals have to do a 25 percent increase in staffed beds. Hospitals must remain under 85 percent, either by adding up to 25 percent of beds, reducing or eliminating elective surgeries, or both. We're also calibrating the risk level of the economic activity to ensure we are respecting public health, while limiting economic disruption to the extent possible. This pandemic has required us to stay nimble from the very beginning and we will continue to follow the data to make smart, informed decisions."

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