Thursday, April 23
If you have an immediate need, call (607) 288-3252
As always, community members looking for more information on local health resources and resources related to COVID-19 can contact 2-1-1 by calling 1-877-211-8667 or visiting 211tompkins.orgMutual Aid Tompkins Facebook PageMutual Aid Tompkins Facebook GroupMutual Aid Tompkins Immediate Needs Facebook GroupMutual Aid Tompkins Food Systems Facebook GroupMutual Aid Tompkins: Parent Support GroupMutual Aid Tompkins Community FormMutual Aid Tompkins Community Resource FolderDonate
We are neighbors concerned about our communities and helping to make sure those most vulnerable and affected by COVID-19 get the support they need. We are volunteer run, with no paid staff, and our aid comes directly from the community. We have created a PayPal & Venmo account and the money donated is going directly to people who have made requests through our immediate needs page. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation through our fundraiser that is in partnership with Tompkins County Worker's Center, You can also make donations through PayPal here and our Venmo here. Thank you!
Need Help Finding Help? Contact 2-1-1 Tompkins Cortland. I just want to remind people of this help desk and referral service. Callers are referred to service providers according to their needs. 2-1-1 may follow up with callers, when appropriate, to ensure that contact was made and to offer further assistance if needed. Some common questions include locations to find food, legal issues with housing, how to access healthcare, and finding employment. 2-1-1 is active 24 hours a day 365 days of the year. To access 2-1-1 by text, message your zip code to TXT211 or 898211. Texting service is available Mon-Fri 9:00 am – 4:00 pm). You can also access 2-1-1 services by email (iandr@hsctc.org) or by visiting their website.
Local
Tracking
The latest data from the Tompkins County Health Department shows five new positive tests for COVID-19, the sharpest increase since April 10. The county reports no additional recoveries or hospital discharges.
Most recent data can always be found on the Tompkins County Health Department website.
Total Tested: 3,056
Pending Results: 164
Positive Test Results: 129
Recovered: 94
Currently Hospitalized: 5
Total Deaths: 2 (both non-county residents)
The Cayuga Health Sampling Site is open Monday–Friday, 10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m. To pre-register, call Cayuga Health Registration Line at 607-319-5708, or go online to cayugahealthsystem.org.
Need a ride to the Sampling Site? After you have registered, call 2-1-1 to schedule a safe and free ride with ASAP Cab Company. 2-1-1 is available 8:30 a.m.–5:00 p.m. to schedule rides to the Sampling Site
News
Ithaca, waiting on federal aid, announces employee layoffs in response to COVID-19
City of Ithaca employees learned in an all-staff email Thursday morning that layoffs would be coming after the most recent federal stimulus bill failed to include funding for municipalities. Ithaca's and Tompkins County's economy is heavily reliant on students and their families, as well as tourism, to generate the local sales tax that, along with property taxes, funds annual budgets. Those revenue streams are expected to dry up, and the city expects to take a serious financial hit from the COVID-19 shutdown, but it's not yet clear how hard that hit will be. Learn more here.
Get Help, Give Help
Local group creates PPE distribution website for local medical professionals
An Ithaca-based group of organizations — including the Ithaca Generator, members of the Cornell University engineering community and local prototyping, printing and communications company — have joined forces to help manufacture and distribute PPE by creating a website where people can donate and organizations can request the equipment. Find out more.
App from Cornell students to connect people during COVID19. To help curb loneliness and isolation during the pandemic, three Cornell students developed an app to help make a "Quarantine Buddy" and connect people of all ages from around the world as we are all social distancing.
Food
REMINDER: A drive-thru Dryden community food distribution hosted by the Food Bank of the Southern Tier. This event will be held on Friday, April 24 from 10am-1pm at Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3). Registration is required and will be open from 8am-4pm on Wed 4/22 and Thur 4/23. People can register online here or by calling 1-833-432-3663. This is a drive-thru to limit person-to-person contact so you must be in a vehicle. Limited deliveries will also be available. You can find more information on the Food Bank website here.
Donation option - donate to feed lunch to the teams of people making masks. This is a fund for daily lunch delivery for sewing volunteers making masks for Tompkins County's essential workers - which also supports local businesses. Fill in this form if you want to deliver lunches.
State
Governor Cuomo Daily briefing here. Highlights:
As nursing homes become an increasing area of concern across the Northeast, the State Department of Health is partnering with Attorney General Letitia James to investigate nursing homes who violate Executive Orders requiring these facilities to communicate COVID-19 test results and deaths to residents' families.
Preliminary Phase I Results of Antibody Testing Study Show 13.9% of the Population Have COVID-19 Antibodies
Cuomo Announces New Initiative to Ramp Up Testing in African-American and Latino Communities by Working with Places of Worship
Expanded COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing at NYCHA Facilities Begins Today
$30 Million Announced in Child Care Scholarships for Essential Workers and Supplies for Child Care Providers
Cases: 6,244 Additional Coronavirus Cases in New York State - Bringing Statewide Total to 263,460; New Cases in 44 Counties
Elective outpatient treatments can resume in hospitals and counties where there is no significant risk of COVID-19 surge in the near term. Beginning April 28, 2020, hospitals will be able to resume performing elective outpatient treatments if they meet certain conditions. Restrictions on elective surgeries remain in place in Albany, Bronx, Clinton, Dutchess, Erie, Kings, Nassau, New York, Orange, Queens, Rensselaer, Richmond, Rockland, Schuyler, Suffolk, Sullivan, Ulster, Westchester and Yates counties as the state continues to monitor the rate of new COVID-19 infections in these areas.
NYS is looking into alternative options for giving birth outside of a hospital. Secretary to the Governor Melissa DeRosa will chair a COVID-19 Maternity Task Force that will develop a plan to authorize additional birth centers to provide mothers a safe alternative to stressed hospitals. The Task Force will also research the effect of COVID-19 on pregnancy. It will deliver recommendations by the end of the week (from Anna Kelles).
Federal
House Passes $484 Billion Aid Package: The relief package now goes to President Trump, who said he would sign it. California experiences its deadliest day. As another 4.4 million file for unemployment, help is slow to arrive.
The House on Thursday gave resounding approval to a $484 billion coronavirus relief package to restart a depleted loan program for distressed small businesses and provide funds for hospitals and coronavirus testing, and moved to increase oversight of the sprawling federal response to the pandemic.
