Archive: News

Sunday the Tompkins County Health Department said it had received notification that a Wegmans employee who works in the Coffee Shop is a confirmed COVID-19 case. The individual worked multiple shifts at Wegmans during the past two weeks, located at 500 S. Meadow St., Ithaca, NY.

"Communications like this are meant to reduce further exposure by encouraging individuals who may have come in contact with the infected individual to act in the community's best interest, get tested, and self-quarantine even if they are not exhibiting symptoms," said Frank Kruppa, Public Health Director. "We are working closely with Wegmans management to ensure the safety of all employees and patrons. Grocery stores are essential businesses, and it is important that they are able to continue to serve our community."

Washington, DC - A bipartisan caucus sent a letter to Congressional House leadership Tuesday, calling on Congress to begin planning and approving ways for the U.S. House of Representatives to function during the present COVID-19 emergency. The fifty Members of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus, led by Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) and Tom Reed (R-NY), said they believe it is essential that all Members of Congress can carry out their Constitutional responsibilities and represent their constituents.

"As we continue to combat this public health and economic crisis, and work on the next emergency legislative package, I will to continue to fight for solutions to help the families and businesses in my District — one of the top coronavirus hotspots in the country," Gottheimer said. "We are in the eye of the storm, and the residents, front-line medical workers, and businesses in our North Jersey community are facing particular challenges. We need a clear process to debate and vote on vital legislation remotely, while still following public health guidelines."

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo signed the FY 2021 Enacted Budget last week. The Governor said that the budget is "balanced, includes no new taxes, continues to phase in tax cuts for the middle class, enacts the strongest Paid Sick Leave program in the nation, and advances other progressive priorities including the legalization of gestational surrogacy."

"The budget was difficult because the State has no money, and how do you do a budget when you can't really forecast revenues, and we came up with a somewhat novel budget that actually is calibrated to future revenues or losses," Cuomo said. So we really start with an assumption and then what we're saying is when we see how much revenue the state makes, how fast the economy comes back, what the expenses are, we'll calibrate accordingly."

The Village of Lansing Board of Trustees set a public hearing for the 2020-21 budget at an online meeting Monday.  The $2.9 million budget is 18.69% less than last year's budget, largely due to less construction project expense in the coming year.  After raising the tax rate to adjust reserve funds for the past few years, Hartill said he will not raise the tax rate this year.

"In these financial times I would characterize it as a goal and not as a solid device," he said. "We're almos t certainly going to have to prioritize construction projects.  I elected to not increase our tax rate. Then there are probably going to be some people who can't pay those taxes. So I think we're going to have to be very flexible in how we go forward."

The Village of Lansing Elections, which had been scheduled for April 28th have been postponed until after June 1, 2020. The Villages of Lansing, Cayuga Heights, Dryden, Groton, Trumansburg had all scheduled elections on April 28th, but the Tompkins County Board of Elections has announced village election dates are to be determined.  The Presidential Primary has also been postponed until June 23.

The postponement is a result of Executive Order 202.13, issued by Governor Andrew Cuomo on March 30th, putting all nonessential activities on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Cuomo extended the special restrictions Monday, directing schools and nonessential businesses to stay closed for an additional two weeks through April 29th.

Legislature Discusses COVID-19 and Hears Update from County Staff

Legislature Chair Leslyn McBean-Clairborne (D-Ithaca) started Tuesday night's meeting, held virtually via Zoom software, by reflecting on the differences and patience required while operating a remote meeting. No public comments were received via email. The meeting was shown live over Government Access TV and live streamed on the Tompkins County website.

McBean-Clairborne's Chair's report encouraged people to stay home, wear a mask when in public places, follow Health Department guidance, check in with neighbors virtually or via phone, and call 211 with questions about COVID-19. McBean-Clairborne reported receiving positive feedback from her recent recorded message encouraging social distancing sent via the County's SwiftReach system.

Rensselaer, NY -- The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) today released an analysis of estimated COVID-19 demand impacts. Demand is down across the New York Control Area (NYCA), with certain zones experiencing more dramatic drops in load than others.

Demand reductions are largest in the morning, particularly in New York City (referred to in the analysis as Zone J). For weekdays during the period of March 30 – April 3, reductions in electric consumption in New York City approached 18% during the 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. hours. Overall, New York City hourly demand for that week ranged from 2% to 18% below typical demand levels. Meanwhile, NYCA-wide reductions in electric consumption compared to typical demand levels ranged from 1% during the 12 a.m. hour to 12% during the 7 a.m. hour.

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today launched a multi-platform, multi-language education and awareness campaign to reach all New Yorkers across the state in all zip codes including hard-to-reach communities. The campaign will emphasize the state's core message to stay home and will expand outreach and awareness of this critical mandate to new and wider audiences. The Governor launched the Instagram campaign, #IStayHomeFor, with Jennifer Lopez and Alex Rodriguez to help reach the widest audience possible with the state's life-saving stay home message.

"This virus is truly vicious, and we all have an obligation to do what we can to protect each other and to protect the most vulnerable," Governor Cuomo said. "We will only be effective if social distancing is enforced and maintained. That's why we are using every tool at our disposable to reach everyone, everywhere in every way -- particularly communities we don't normally reach -- to reinforce the message to stay home and stop the spread, if not for ourselves, for the vulnerable people we love around us."

Some parks in Lansing are open, some are closed, but all playgrounds are closed, including those at the Lansing school campus.  On Monday Lansing Town Supervisor Ed LaVigne said all playgrounds on town property are closed, but parks would remain open.  He added that the basketball courts at Myers Park, Ludlowville Park and the Town ball fields are off limits until further notice.  Village of Lansing Mayor Donald Hartill announced Tuesday that he directed Superintendent of Public Works John Courtney to close all Village parks.

"It was very difficult for me to do because I know how much people enjoy being outside and enjoying the playground equipment and the game fields. But as Mayor, I am responsible for carefully guarding the health and welfare of our citizens, especially our younger ones."

What if you could handle every COVID-19 test in Tompkins County using a couple of machines that look like giant microwave ovens.  And what if you could load the devices and walk away until the tests are done, only four hours later?   And what if the samples were self-contained within the machines and automatically destroyed after tests complete, leaving the biological waste remains in a disposable cartridge so technicians are not exposed to the coronavirus?  And what if the tests were lower cost than the current testing procedures?  And what if local health departments and hospitals could have the machines on-site, eliminating the time and cost to transport test samples out of town?

That's what scientists at Rheonix, Inc., a company in the Village of Lansing, asked themselves when they began developing a test kit for their Encompass MDx® workstation about a month ago.  When the device was put on the market about three years ago it was used to detect spoilage organisms in beer during the brewing process, and since has been used for other kinds of food safety testing.  But the machine can also be used for medical testing, and the company has spent the past four years going through the process with the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to get the machine certified to test for sexually transmitted diseases.  But with the pandemic quickly reaching crisis proportions, the FDA has instituted Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) procedures that may mean the Rheonix device could be certified for use as early as next week.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Tuesday that a new hospital network Central Coordinating Team that will help facilitate a more coordinated and strategic approach among the state's healthcare system in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

The coordinating team will help implement the statewide public-private hospital plan, which the Governor announced yesterday, to share information, supplies, staff and patients among hospitals across the State. The team will be responsible for organizing upstate to downstate staffing; assisting Elmhurst Hospital and other stressed hospitals; setting patient thresholds for hospitals; organizing patient transfers to other hospitals and the USNS Comfort; coordinating State-City stockpiles and individual hospital stockpiles; and facilitating staffing recruitment.

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced Sunday all NYS on Pause functions will be extended for another two weeks. The Governor also directed the state nonessential workforce to continue to work from home for an additional two weeks through April 15th. Cuomo said the state will re-evaluate after this additional two-week period.

In-person workforce restrictions, which have been implemented through various Executive Orders —202.3 (restaurants and bars, gyms, fitness centers, movie theaters and casinos); 202.4 (local government workforces, school districts; village elections); 202.5 (malls, public amusement facilities); 202.6 (all non-essential reduce 50%); 202.7 (barber shops, salons, other personal care); 202.8 (DMV); 202.10 (non-essential gatherings of any size); 202.11 (extension of school district closure until April 15, 2020) — are also extended until April 15, 2020 to enable uniform extension and review of such restrictions, and any such restrictions may be extended by future executive orders.