OSWEGO COUNTY – The Oswego County Health Department is working with officials from SUNY Oswego after additional cases of COVID-19 were identified among students living both on and off campus. Since Friday, Sept. 4, 21 more cases have been confirmed among students.
According to Oswego County Public Health Director Jiancheng Huang, county health department staff is working closely with SUNY Oswego to quickly identify and isolate students that are infected.
“SUNY Oswego has a robust testing plan in place and has been able to quickly test, identify and isolate positive students since the beginning of the semester,” Huang said. “We are interviewing positive students to identify those that may have been in close contact with them, then notifying those contacts and working with the college to get those identified into quarantine… COVID-19 is highly contagious, so it is not unusual to see cases spread among individuals living together.”
According to the college’s COVID-19 dashboard, as of today at 4:30 p.m.:
- New cases (Sept. 7 to 13): 15 (13 students are on-campus and 2 students are off-campus)
- Total number of tests: 5,822
- Total number of cumulative confirmed cases since Aug. 12: 36
- Total number of cases recovered: 1
- Total number of students in on-campus quarantine: 41
- Total number of students in on-campus isolation: 27
- Total number of students in travel advisory quarantine: 2
As the SUNY Oswego campus moves from baseline COVID-19 testing to aggressive surveillance testing, President Deborah F. Stanley announced today that Funnelle Hall will be used to house additional students who may need to be moved into campus-supported quarantine rooms. More information can be found here.
Today, SUNY Oswego President Deborah Stanley released a letter to the college community, saying the following:
Despite the rise in cases this weekend, we have a very low infection rate and are faring better than many other campuses across the state and around the nation at this time. Testing helps us identify COVID-19 on our campus so that we can begin care for those who test positive, and take swift action to limit the spread to others. We are closely monitoring results daily and taking appropriate action in consultation with the Oswego County Health Department. Residential students who test positive are moved to campus-supported isolation rooms, and residential students who may have been in close contact with those who have tested positive are moved into campus-supported quarantine rooms.
This week we will begin notifying campus generally of the face-to-face classes that have a student enrolled who has tested positive for COVID-19 (without identifying the student). We will provide on-campus tests for faculty and students in those classes.
We are also significantly increasing ongoing on-campus testing immediately. I have charged the SUNY Oswego campus to continue administering saliva-based testing for the rest of the semester as we move from baseline testing to aggressive surveillance testing. Such continued testing will support our ongoing efforts to monitor and protect all members of the SUNY Oswego community. We are also working with the City of Oswego and a private engineering firm to analyze our wastewater discharge to provide us the ability to identify traces of COVID-19 in our wastewater as another monitor for campus health.
It is more important than ever that we have your attention and focus; you are the reason we are keeping our infection rate low. We need YOU – our students, faculty and staff – to remain committed to your health as well as the safety of others on our campus and in our community. Please continue to wash your hands frequently, wear your mask (correctly), socially distance indoors and outdoors, and refrain from hosting or attending parties or large gatherings. It is essential that we limit our engagement with others to very small groups, and make wise decisions on where we go, who we visit, and how we socialize. Please make the right choices. There is no doubt that this pandemic is exacting great sacrifices but I believe that we, in the academy, are prepared to do our best to meet the challenge. Thank you.
#TogetherOz
Deborah F. Stanley
President
The Oswego County Health Department reminds all community members that they must take protective actions to limit the spread of the virus, including maintaining social distancing and limiting interaction among family and friends they do not live with.
Health officials urge residents follow these precautions:
- Wear a face mask or covering over your nose and mouth, especially when you cannot maintain six feet of separation from other people.
- Stay home if you are sick unless you are seeking health care.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue and then throw the tissue in the trash.
- Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially before eating or use hand sanitizer with a concentration of at least 60% alcohol.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched or shared objects and surfaces such as doorknobs, tabletops, keyboards, remote control devices or bathrooms.
Residents are asked to continue monitoring reliable sources of information. Go to oswegocounty.com or health.oswegocounty.com/covid-19 for the latest news releases, updates and video presentations. For more information go to cdc.gov.
Additional questions can be directed to the Oswego County Health Department COVID-19 hotline at 315-349-3330 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. For information about emotional supports, visit the Oswego County Department of Social Services Division of Mental Hygiene at www.oswegocounty.com/mentalhygiene.
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When is anyone going to get real….the last thing most of these kids are going to follow are these guidelines…After half of our Oswego residents get sick THEN they will close the school and go online only…
Barlow was warned about this in july,kids not wearing masks,shopping,etc,but he did nothing,now more cases,great mayor right there…