Coronavirus Updates for Jan. 14: Active Cases in Westchester County, Putnam Dip Slightly After Holiday Surge; State Reports More Cases of New COVID Strain

As Westchester and Putnam counties transition out of the post-holiday coronavirus surge, more cases of the United Kingdom COVID-19 variant have been reported throughout New York.

In total, 15 cases of the variant have been confirmed in the state. Two cases have been identified in Suffolk County, two in Nassau County, one in Queens and another in Manhattan. The remaining cases were identified in Saratoga County and Warren County.

Health officials say that while the strain doesn’t make you more ill, it is 70 percent more transmissible.  

“We’re dealing with high numbers of COVID cases across the state as we move through the dark days of winter, and although I understand COVID fatigue has set in, we need New Yorkers to remember that we aren’t out of the woods yet,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday. “The vaccine is the weapon that ends the war, but we’re locked in a footrace between its quick distribution and the spread of new cases.

Coronavirus cases in Westchester County increased by 740 on Wednesday, bringing the total number of positive cases to 80,146 since the start of the pandemic.

There are now 11,444 active cases. While it’s a decrease of 31 over the previous day, it’s the first dip in active cases the county has seen in weeks, with the last decline occurring just before Christmas.  

The county’s daily positivity rate is currently 7.51 percent, according to state data, with that percentage based on 9,860 tests taken on Monday. Overall, there have been over 1.56 million COVID-19 tests administered in Westchester since March, state data shows.

The county reported six more deaths, resulting in a total of 1,750 COVID-19-related fatalities since March, according to the state tracker. This week 29 people have died from the virus, state data shows, with 86 overall fatalities since the start of the new year.

As of Jan. 9, there are 504 virus patients in Westchester hospitals.

Putnam County’s total caseload has reached 6,014, with 84 additional positive cases recorded on Wednesday, according to state data. The county’s daily positivity rate is 8.81 percent, with 954 tests administered Monday.

Putnam currently has 1,264 active cases, a minor reduction over the previous day.

Two new coronavirus-related deaths were reported in Putnam on Wednesday, increasing the total number of fatalities to 70 since the start of the pandemic. The last death the county reported was on Jan. 8.

Statewide there were 14,577 new positive cases on Wednesday. The daily positivity rate is 7.40 percent.

The state recorded 165 additional COVID-19-related fatalities, bringing the death toll to 32,175 since March.

Total hospitalizations are at 8,929, an increase of three over the previous day. Across New York there have been 1,169,947 positive coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, according to the state tracker.

There have been a total number of 732,066 vaccine doses administered.

Here are the latest updates on Jan. 14

The Putnam County Department of Health will open a second COVID-19 vaccination site on Thursday in Philipstown.

The site, at the Philipstown Recreation Center, will enable the county to vaccinate as many eligible people as supplies allow. The county’s first point of dispensing, or POD, opened last week at the Carmel Friendship Center and vaccinated 611 people over two days.

 “We want to ensure that everyone in our county has good access to a POD,” County Executive MaryEllen Odell said. “The supply of vaccine is limited now, but as our allocation from the state increases, we will quickly ramp up and serve many more people on both sides of the county.”

Only those who already have appointments Thursday will be vaccinated. Those without appointments will be turned away.

The county health department is just one of the agencies in Putnam getting vaccine shipments from the state. Pharmacies, urgent cares, health centers and hospitals will also administer vaccines, but Odell has asked the state to put the county government in charge of the distribution in Putnam.

The list of eligible workers and the form to register is available at https://am-i-eligible.covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/Public/prescreener.

Westchester Active Coronavirus Cases by Municipality 

Here are the active cases by municipality in Westchester as of Wednesday. With a lag between the total number of cases confirmed by the state and the tally of cases by town, the total number of municipal cases might be slightly different than what the county’s active cases reflects.

• Ardsley – 35
• Bedford – 164
• Briarcliff Manor – 71
• Bronxville – 72
• Buchanan – 50
• Cortlandt – 418
• Croton-on-Hudson – 88
• Dobbs Ferry – 107
• Eastchester – 204
• Elmsford – 51
• Greenburgh – 454
• Harrison – 282
• Hastings-on-Hudson – 59
• Irvington – 37
• Larchmont – 43
• Lewisboro – 56
• Mamaroneck Town – 104
• Mamaroneck Village – 265
• Mount Kisco – 107
• Mount Pleasant – 229
• Mount Vernon – 643
• New Castle – 114
• New Rochelle – 922
• North Castle – 101
• North Salem – 57
• Ossining Town – 53
• Ossining Village – 442
• Peekskill – 448
• Pelham – 57
• Pelham Manor – 61
• Pleasantville – 56
• Port Chester – 406
• Pound Ridge – 25
• Rye Brook – 98
• Rye City – 161
• Scarsdale – 84
• Sleepy Hollow – 185
• Somers – 245
• Tarrytown – 179
• Tuckahoe – 74
• White Plains – 692
• Yonkers – 2,739
• Yorktown – 545