Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday the central New York region was showing "a sign of caution," after the region's rate of positive tests for the coronavirus increased over the last few days. According to state figures, the daily rate of positive tests jumped from 0.6% Saturday to 3.0% Wednesday.
"Something happened, maybe," Cuomo said. "So, we go back to the tracing function, go trace the positives, and see if they lead us to anything. They did."
Cuomo said the increase is likely due to a cluster of positive cases at an apple processing plant in Oswego County. County officials reported earlier this week a cluster of cases among employees at Champlain Valley of NY, Inc. in the Town of Oswego. Officials said the county was working with the state health department to test all employees at the facility. Cuomo said there have been "about 34" positive cases so far. Later Thursday, Oswego County Legislature Chairman Jim Weatherup said 29 employees at the plant have tested positive so far.
"That's bad news, but it's also good news," Cuomo said. "That's the way this is supposed to work. You see an increase in the numbers, you trace the increase. In Oswego, they were working at the same plant. Get to the plant and address it."
Cuomo said other than that, the numbers across the state have been good. He said the state conducted more than 68,000 tests Wednesday with just 618 positive results, a 0.90% positive rate, the lowest rate since testing began in New York.
There were 27 deaths in the state from COVID-19 Wednesday, up slightly from the 17 deaths the day before.
