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Latest local update on the covid-19 coronavirus
Mar 05, 2020 12:57 am
Bethany Bump reports for the Times Union that there are now 11 reported cases of covid-19 coranoavirus, in Westchester County and New York City. “I think you do everything you can to limit the spread, but I think it’s only a matter of time before you’re trying to limit the increase,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said about whether the illness will makes its way to Albany. Columbia County Public Health Commissioner Jack Mabb in an interview with WGXC said there have not been anyone isolated or tested in Columbia County yet, though there is one man who recently returned from Northern Italy with a respiratory illness. About 1,000 people in Westchester County have been voluntarily isolated as a precaution. Albany County Health Commissioner Elizabeth Whalen said she is awaiting test results of one person who recently traveled to Italy but is not showing any symptoms. Rensselaer County has five people currently isolated and three people tested waiting for results. Albany, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, and Schenectady counties say they have identified locations to isolate many patients if necessary, but have declined to disclose where exactly, citing privacy reasons. Mabb told WGXC that Columbia County has yet to find a suitable location. And Bump reports that local churches, temples, synagogues, and mosques are now asking congregants to avoid handshakes, hugs, and other touching at services. Read more about this story in the Times Union.