BINGHAMTON, NY (WSKG) — Broome County is still reporting hundreds of positive COVID-19 cases each week, but numbers have continued to fall. There were more than 850 new cases last week. Over 200 cases were reported Wednesday. And more than 100 people are currently hospitalized.
During his weekly COVID update on Thursday, Broome County Executive Jason Garnar said while numbers are still high, he’s encouraged by the decline in case numbers over the past few weeks.
“I'm feeling very optimistic," Garnar said. "We're really trending in the right direction."
Garnar said it’s important that people keep taking precautions and staying safe. He added if numbers fall low enough, the statewide mask mandate could be lifted.
“I have a feeling that because it's tied to data, it will not be staying too much longer,” Garnar said.
Garnar said the mask mandate was put into effect to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed. Broome County’s hospitalizations have stayed around 100 each week for the past month. But he said the hope is that as cases fall, hospitalizations will follow.
“Over the coming weeks that drop is going to decrease even more, the cases will decrease even more. And at some point, the hospitalizations will follow that trend,” Garnar said.
Garnar said residents should still stay home if they’re feeling sick, social distance when possible, and get tested for COVID.