by Kassadee Bradshaw | December 15, 2020 5:05 pm
OSWEGO COUNTY – According to the Oswego County Health Department, as of 3 p.m., there have been 55 additional cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) since yesterday.
The county is now using state data to report deaths of Oswego County residents. As of today, there have been 19 COVID-19 related deaths in Oswego County since the beginning of the pandemic. The reason for this sudden jump is explained below.
There are 597 active cases today.
Oswego County Legislature Chairman James Weatherup posted his weekly briefing today to the county government’s YouTube channel. In the video, he discussed a clarification of deaths statistics for the county and the COVID-19 vaccine.
In regards to discrepancies between the county and state’s reported COVID-19 deaths, Weatherup said the county reports COVID-19 related deaths after the department receives official verification such as a coroner’s report or a death certificate confirming the virus was the cause of death. As the virus spreads and more people getting sick and dying, this process has created a backlog in the processing and delivering of these reports.
Weatherup said hospitals, nursing homes and adult care facilities report deaths directly to the State Department of Health everyday. The county’s health department data is based on death certificates and medical examiner’s reports, which is received from towns’ and cities’ medical examiners.
“Our process of waiting for death certificates is taking too long in this environment and has resulted in a relatively large and unacceptable discrepancy between our numbers and the numbers reported by New York State,” Weatherup said. “In order to stay true to our desire to be a reliable and credible source of information, we now find the need to become more efficient in verifying and reporting COVID deaths. Therefore, effective today, we are changing our process and will use New York State’s data going forward.”
To date, the county has reported six deaths verified by the Oswego County Health Department. However, the New York State Health Department has reported 19 deaths attributed to the virus. Weatherup said the county has not received coroner’s reports or death certificates for 13 of those deaths.
To clarify – the jump in the number of COVID-19 deaths from six to 19 was not an overnight occurrence.
Weatherup also discussed the COVID-19 vaccine, which was administered to the first New York State resident yesterday. He said the county has been told the Pfizer vaccine[1] is first going to large hospitals in the state.
The county will receive the vaccine from the state, redistribute it and vaccinate the general public. So far, the vaccine is only for those 18-years-old or older and will take months to get all the adult population covered.
“We will of course keep everyone informed when the vaccine becomes available to county residents,” Weatherup said.
Oswego County Health Department Public Health Educator Sonia Robinson joined the video to talk further about the spread of the virus.
She said earlier in the year, it took the county six months to reach 300 cases, and at the rate the virus is spreading now, the county has 300 cases every six days or less.
Robinson said the spread within the county is seen to be largely within family clusters and families within different households.
“We know it is so difficult this time of year, but it is not safe for different households to get together – even if they are from the same family. This includes dinners, birthday parties, kids’ sleepovers and holiday parties,” Robinson said. “If you are tested for COVID-19, please remain quarantined until you receive your test results and are contacted by the county health department with instructions… Getting a negative test does not absolve you of your responsibility to quarantine if you’ve been ordered to quarantine.”
Today’s statistics are below:
Oswego County:[2] (as of 3 p.m.) Note, the total number of positive cases is cumulative since March and the number of recoveries and deaths are of those numbers. SUNY Oswego cases are included in the county numbers, however, the county tracks only those living in Oswego County. That means that students who chose to leave and go back to their home county and test positive there will be included on the college’s dashboard, but not the county’s. Their positive result would be reported to their home county, not here.
Municipalities With Cases[3]: Map updated yesterday.
1-10 confirmed cases: Amboy, Boylston, Redfield
11-25 confirmed cases: Minetto, Orwell, Parish, Williamstown
26-50 confirmed cases: Albion, New Haven, Sandy Creek
51-75 confirmed cases: Constantia, Hannibal, Mexico, Palermo, West Monroe
76-100 confirmed cases: Richland, Scriba
101-150 confirmed cases: Granby, Schroeppel
151-200 confirmed cases: Hastings, Volney
201-250 confirmed cases: City of Fulton
251-300 confirmed cases: Oswego Town
Over 400 confirmed cases: City of Oswego
SUNY Oswego Statistics[4]: (as of 2:45 p.m.)
Oswego County School Districts: Look for your school district’s COVID-19 report card here[5]. It shows if there are any positive cases within the school district, for students and staff.
New York: [6](as of yesterday)
*NY numbers are from the NY State Department of Health.
Other updates from the state can be found here[7].
U.S.[8]: (as of 3:27 p.m.)
Worldwide:[9] (as of 3:27 p.m.)
For information on symptoms, diagnostic testing, antibody testing, childhood inflammatory disease related to COVID-19, or other COVID-19 related topics, visit the Oswego County Health Department’s COVID-19 page[10].
Resources:
Links For Statistics:
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/news/covid-19-statistics-update-december-15-2020/
Copyright ©2026 Oswego County Today unless otherwise noted.