Confirmed Coronavirus Cases Grow in White Plains
In the City of White Plains, 54 residents have tested positive for coronavirus as of press time, up from about 10 on Mar. 19. With the 54 positive tests, White Plains has the fourth most of any municipality in the entire county, only trailing Mount Vernon, at 70 cases, Yonkers, at 145 cases, and New Rochelle, with its 223 confirmed cases.
Testing numbers in Westchester are up, making it difficult to determine what percentage of the increase in confirmed positive cases is a result of more testing, and what percentage is due to the outbreak widening.
“The increased number of countywide cases reflects the dramatic increase in the number of people being tested which is more accurately reflecting the spread of the disease,” Mayor Thomas Roach said. “The number of confirmed cases has increased in almost the exact same proportion as the number tested.”
Roach also mentioned how by isolating those who are sick, the rate of growth of positive cases can be slowed.
“It is important to note that the more restrictive social distancing measures recently introduced will be impacting future not current numbers,” the mayor said.
Not everyone is heeding the warnings of public health officials.
People have been seen playing organized sports on a school field in White Plains, leading police to disperse the crowd.
“…I must stress again how important it is that people follow the orders banning the use of playgrounds and allowing the use of fields and parks only for solitary recreation,” Roach remarked.
The mayor is urging residents to comply with social distancing regulations instituted by Cuomo and the city, noting those rules are “the most effective thing any of us can do to slow the rate of new infections and allow hospital capacity to keep pace.”
“People will live or die based on what each of us as individuals do,” Roach said. “I recognize how difficult this is for everyone in so many ways but we must stay the course. We must respond as a community and to do that we need everyone to be on board.”
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.
