jason garnar

Broome County continues to see record numbers of COVID-19 cases, with 3,250 new cases in the past week. But County Executive Jason Garnar says for now, hospitalizations don’t seem to be increasing at the same rate.

Given the spike in COVID-19 cases, county officials are advising residents to make sure they stay safe during holiday gatherings.

Since the statewide mask mandate was announced last week, New York’s counties have grappled with how to implement it. Certain counties have embraced the mandate. Others have refused to carry it out.

The National Guard will be deployed to fill staffing shortages at Willow Point Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Vestal.

Staffing shortages at Broome County’s Willow Point Nursing Home have forced officials to declare a state of emergency.

Broome County Executive Jason Garnar said the facility will bring a couple hundred jobs to the area.

“You could probably assume that we have the same type of vaccination rate that the rest of Broome county does. So about a third of our sixteen to seventeen hundred employees are probably not vaccinated.”

“It’s important, again, that we use these funds to provide lifesaving drugs, and lifesaving treatment.”

With two units closed, the nursing home has reduced its capacity from 300 to 216 beds.

“It’s going to be very, very difficult to provide the same level of healthcare if we are, all of a sudden, starting to see people walk off the job and leave the healthcare industry.”