SIX ADDITIONAL COVID-19 LAB CONFIRMED CASES IN PUTNAM

The Putnam County Department of Health (PCDOH) is confirming six new positive cases of COVID-19 in Putnam County residents, bringing the total to twelve cases.

The individuals have been quarantined and will continue to be monitored carefully. 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. 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 PCDOH 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.