19 New Cases Bring Putnam Coronavirus Total To 31

PUTNAM COUNTY, NY — There are 19 new positive cases of new coronavirus in Putnam County residents, bringing the total to 31 confirmed cases as of Saturday afternoon, health department officials said.

The number of cases has risen rapidly from two confirmed on Wednesday in Putnam.

In the lower Hudson Valley, according to the state health department website, Westchester had 1,385, Rockland had 262, Orange had 163 and Dutchess County had 49 as of Saturday afternoon. In New York, the total number of confirmed cases of what is officially known as COVID-19 was 10,356.

All contagious people have been quarantined and will continue to be monitored carefully, Putnam officials said.

"Our communicable disease staff are interviewing these individuals to learn about their movements, and identify all close contacts. Contact tracing then begins, which includes asking for a detailed history of where they have traveled, worked, shopped, and more," officials said. "On the basis of these answers, communicable disease staff will compile a list of people who may have been potentially exposed. Staff then contacts each of these people to explain their risk. Regular communication and monitoring for symptoms of the disease continue for these contacts."

At this time the Putnam County Department of Health is not able to release the name of the towns with lab-confirmed positive cases. The PCDOH follows HIPAA (patient privacy) and New York State DOH regulations, protecting this information. NYSDOH determines the threshold for the number of cases when information can be shared, and at this time the Putnam County case number does not meet the threshold. This is the same for reporting any other communicable disease.

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