OSWEGO – Mayor Barlow has issued a state of emergency in the City of Oswego. This State of Emergency has been declared due to ambulance diversion of Oswego’s only hospital emergency department.
Oswego’s closure in addition to other regional emergency departments diverting patients, due to extreme staffing shortages, a dramatic rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations, the increasing number of occupied ICU beds, and the resulting impact on the ability of the hospital to treat non-COVID related acute care and emergency cases.
Currently, Oswego County has a 7-day average COVID positivity rate of 11.7%, the highest during the pandemic. This situation threatens the public safety of the citizens of the City of Oswego, according to Barlow’s office.
“This cascading effect of the lack of available hospitals beds pushes the burden to the streets and creates a situation that is not sustainable,” Barlow said. “Declaring this State of Emergency allows the City of Oswego to act quickly with community partners to improve the situation.”
