(ITHACA, NY, April 17, 2024) – Tompkins County Whole Health (TCWH) is alerting the community that our Free COVID-19 Test Kit Program has come to a close, as of Thursday, April 4th, along with changes to our COVID-19 Data Dashboard.
Since January 2022, TCWH has obtained COVID-19 self-test kits from the New York State Department of Emergency Management to distribute throughout the county via community centers and town/village municipal centers. These tests were provided to the community, free of cost, in an effort to reduce spread of the COVID-19 virus.
Commissioner of TCWH Frank Kruppa stated, “TCWH thanks our community libraries, municipal centers and non-profits agencies for their partnership in distributing these essential resources. With their support, TCWH has distributed over 275,000 test kits to the community, free of cost, as a public safety measure.”
TCWH is also sharing with the community a change in our COVID-19 Data Dashboard, to go into effect on Monday, April 22, 2024. Since the start of the pandemic, the COVID-19 dashboard has informed the community about disease prevalence. The dashboard has been revised throughout the course of the pandemic as dataset availability and relevance changed. Our new presentation will show the trend in positive COVID-19 tests, as reported by the NYS Department of Health (DOH), with data points for 7-day totals of both PCR and Antigen tests. This visual for trends aligns COVID-19 tracking with our tracking of local flu cases. TCWH will no longer be providing hospitalization rates and will focus on trends in case numbers as the primary indicator of community level. Hospitalization rates for both COVID-19 and Flu cases will continue to be monitored by the New York State Department of Health.
Kruppa continued, “Data keeps us informed. Knowing local COVID-19 case counts, along with other indicators, has helped our community to make informed decisions about their individual health risks throughout the course of the pandemic. Our commitment remains to continue providing relevant information to the community. This shift in the design from a stand-alone dashboard to a bar graph allows us to see trends and peaks of disease prevalence during Respiratory Illness season. The focus of our data on community case levels aligns with the CDC’s recent inclusion of COVID-19 under standard Respiratory Illness Guidance.”
Tompkins County Whole Health envisions a future where every person in Tompkins County can achieve wellness. Find us online at TompkinsCountyNY.gov/health, and follow us on Facebook at facebook.com/TompkinsWholeHealth and on Twitter at @TCWholeHealth. Get Whole Health updates or other county announcements via email or text, sign up here.
Media contact: Shannon Alvord, salvord@tompkins-co.org
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