Tioga County woman reportedly under quarantine as coronavirus fears spread

Despite a social media post on Feb. 17 indicating that a Tioga County, N.Y. woman was in quarantine in California and that her husband remained behind in Japan, the county’s Legislative Chair, Martha Sauerbrey, said that she has not been informed of any Tioga County resident currently in quarantine for the novel coronavirus. 

A Feb. 17 post on Facebook by Sonya Bement indicates that Linda Lints Barton was assigned at Travis Air Force Base in California to serve a required 14-day quarantine, while her husband Dave remains in Japan to receive treatment for viral pneumonia. 

“(Public Health Director Lisa McCafferty) told me that she is not aware of anyone (from Tioga County) caught up in the quarantine,” said Sauerbrey. 

According to public records available online, the Barton’s reside in Nichols, N.Y. 

The novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, is a virus from the same family as the common cold that is believed to have originated in Wuhan, China. With an estimated mortality rate of 2 percent, health officials from around the world have been struggling to contain the outbreak. 

McCafferty has bi-weekly and sometimes weekly conference calls with the state so that everyone is on the same page (regarding a potential coronavirus outbreak in New York),” Sauerbrey added. 

In the post on Facebook, which appears to at least be in part written by Linda Lints Barton, it states that the decision was made to leave David in Japan, as he was receiving excellent care for viral pneumonia, while Linda took a transport plane back to the states. 

“I can’t respond individually for the next several days, but please keep him in your prayers,” the post on Facebook stated. 

We have attempted to contact Linda Lints Barton, and do not know, at the time of this reporting, if her and her husband are still under care and quarantine. We will provide further details upon discovery.

According to New York’s Department of Health, as of Feb. 27 there were no positive cases for the coronavirus in the state, although 27 were tested with negative results. You can view that data at health.ny.gov. 

According to the CDC, as of Feb. 26, there were 14 confirmed cases in the United States, and 445 were tested. They also noted that of the confirmed cases, 12 were travel related and the other two confirmed cases were person-to-person. You can find more information on the virus at www.cdc.gov. 

(Wendy Post contributed to this report)