Tioga County COVID Stats for July 15, 2020

• 165 total confirmed cases, to date (see below)
• 63 individuals in mandatory quarantine (see below)
• 131 recovered
• 24 Deaths

Last week, Tioga County was notified that eight employees at a local nursing home tested positive for COVID-19. Not all of these cases were Tioga County residents. This led to the quarantine of the positives as well as the close contacts to these individuals. 

New York State guidelines require nursing homes to test their employees weekly for COVID-19. This nursing home contracts with a private lab for the tests. After receiving eight positive tests back on a single day, which were recorded in the New York State system, the nursing home had concerns regarding potential false-positive results and requested the lab rerun the existing tests. 

Tioga County Public Health has worked closely with the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) to address the situation. The nursing home and Tioga County Public Health were directed to wait for resubmitted lab testing results. The lab that initially tested the specimens re-tested the same eight swabs again.

Upon conclusion of the investigation, NYSDOH accepted the revised case results on July 14. All quarantined individuals have been notified of the situation and their quarantine has been terminated and the daily numbers adjusted accordingly. 

For further information, visit https://covid19.tiogacountyny.com, call the Tioga County Coronavirus Response Hotline at 687-8225, Find Facebook @Tioga County Public Health, Find Facebook @TiogaMH (Tioga County Department of Mental Hygiene), call the Tioga County Public Health Voicemail Line at 687-8623, the New York State Coronavirus Hotline at 1-888-364-3065 (for general questions or information about COVID-19), and the Tioga County Emergency Food Hotline at (607) 354-0965.