Several counties in Central New York, Northern New York and the Southern Tier are now being recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for mask wearing, prompted by high case-counts of COVID-19, the health agency's data reported Friday.
Ten counties across the region are now classified by the CDC as having "high" community levels of the coronavirus:
- Onondaga
- Cayuga
- Wayne
- Seneca
- Oswego
- Jefferson
- Lewis
- St. Lawrence
- Broome
- Tioga
As of Friday, the 10 counties are among just 14 counties in total across the U.S. that are currently under the "high" category. The CDC uses a "high," "medium" and "low" classification, which is determined by the number of new cases in the county per 100,000 people in the past seven days; the number of new hospital admissions with COVID-19 in the past seven days per 100,000 people; and the percentage of staffed inpatient beds in use by patients with COVID-19 within a seven-day average.
With a "high" level, the CDC recommends wearing masks in indoor public areas and on public transportation.
The New York state Department of Health recommended mask-wearing in three Central New York counties on April 1. There are currently no local mask requirements in these areas, outside of the statewide requirement for them in bus and train stations, prisons, state-regulated care settings and homeless shelters.
Central New York has seen higher rates of COVID-19 compared to the rest of the state and nation over the last few weeks. On Wednesday, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon said he was told by state health officials the county was the first in New York to have confirmed cases caused a new BA.2 omicron subvariant known as BA.2.12. He said contact tracing is not as in-depth as it used to be, so it’s hard to have an exact reason for the spread but travel seems to be the likely culprit.
The region's high levels come as many will likely gather for the Easter and Passover holidays this weekend. The state health commissioner said Thursday all New Yorkers should take precautions when gathering and consider wearing a mask while in public indoor spaces.
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