水果派AV

At about 10 a.m. Wednesday, April 15, Lincoln got a call from a Project Angel Food volunteer named Meghan. She was running late, she told Lincoln, who thought nothing of it. Volunteers often call ahead, she told 水果派AV on Saturday.

When the delivery arrived and Lincoln opened her door, she was greeted by two volunteers, a man and a woman, both wearing face masks due to the coronavirus pandemic. But when the woman moved her mask to the side, Lincoln realized: It was Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, on her doorstep.听

Living in West Hollywood, Lincoln sees celebrities all the time. She worships every Sunday with Pauley Perrette of "NCIS" fame, said Lincoln's mother, Joni, the Conquest town historian. So Becky doesn't make a big deal out of meeting famous people.听

But the two royals are another level of fame altogether, she said. What's more, she adored Harry's late mother, Princess Diana. Being feet away from her son and his wife, then, Becky couldn't help being a little bit starstruck.

"The whole thing was quite overwhelming," she said.

Harry and Markle asked Becky how she and her neighbors were doing. She told them that the week prior, she handed out face masks to her fellow residents. The masks were made by Elaine Rubenau Reich, a friend from the northern Cayuga County area, Joni said. The whole time, the royals were "really, really personable," Becky said.

After they left, one of Becky's neighbors, Dan Tyrell, who also received a delivery, ran to her door to ask if she realized who had just visited them. But what neither of them yet realized was how interested the media was in that visit.听

Tyrell would have his door knocked on nine times by members of the media, many of them British tabloids, Becky said. She got four phone calls, and her friend was approached by someone with a microphone and camera while driving Becky home from dialysis treatment. For a short time, a security guard was hired for her complex, she said.

"It got a little crazy," she said.听

Becky and Tyrell agreed they would only give interviews that highlighted the work of Project Angel Food, she said. For her, that included and a local TV channel.听

"Now she knows a little about how it must be for (the royal family), to have microphones in their face all the time," Joni said.

Cuomo, who visited SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse to deliver his daily COVID-19 briefing on Tuesday, outlined the 12-point list that regions must follow. The guidelines allow for a phased reopening if the region's coronavirus hospitalization rate declined over a 14-day period.听

If a region meets that standard, businesses can slowly reopen. The first phase would include construction and manufacturing businesses with a low risk of spreading COVID-19. In the second phase, other industries will be allowed to open based on a few factors, including whether they perform essential functions and if there is a low risk of infection in the workplace. Businesses must take precautions to protect customers and employees.听

One addition to the guidelines that wasn't mentioned in recent briefings is a requirement that regions have at least 30% of their hospital and intensive care unit beds available. If there is another COVID-19 outbreak and the hospitals are overwhelmed, the region will be shut down again.听

"Your health care system cannot go over 70% capacity," Cuomo said. "If you're at 70%, bells should go off."聽

When regions reopen, there will be a greater focus on testing. The state is already in the process of expanding testing 鈥� Cuomo signed an executive order to have pharmacies serve as COVID-19 testing sites 鈥� and regions will be required to have enough testing sites to serve the population.听

Testing has been difficult in some communities, especially rural parts of the state. But Cuomo said the state will follow guidance from Dr. Deborah Birx, who leads the White House Coronavirus Task Force. Birx recommends 30 tests for every 1,000 people, which means a region would have the ability to test 3% of its population.听

"Testing won't work if it is impossible to get," Cuomo said. "Testing won't work if it is too hard to get. So you have to have the right number of sites for the area that you're dealing with."

After the testing, tracing will be important to track the infection rate. There must be at least 30 tracers for every 100,000 people, according to Cuomo. Isolation facilities must be established for those who have COVID-19 but can't self-isolate at home.听

Cuomo wants each region to set up a "regional control room" that would track the infection rate, hospital capacity and the use of personal protective equipment. It would also be used to examine business compliance with the guidelines.听

No region will open before May 15, when the state's stay-at-home order and closure of non-essential businesses are set to expire. There are parts of the state, especially downstate areas that have been most affected by the crisis, that won't open immediately.听

But central New York is in a much different position. Leaders from several counties in the region, including Cayuga and Onondaga, are developing a reopening strategy. Those conversations started last week.听

On Monday, Cuomo released the results of additional antibody testing that found central New York had the second-lowest infection rate in the state.听

Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon, who had a briefing a few hours after Cuomo's in Syracuse, said there are discussions between state and local leaders about the "details and logistics" of reopening the regional economy. May 15, he noted, is the earliest it could happen.听

"We've been preparing for this," McMahon said.

Cuomo issued an executive order in March to cancel elective surgeries. It was part of a statewide effort to expand hospital capacity for the COVID-19 response. Last week, Cuomo signaled that he would allow elective surgeries to resume.听

During his COVID-19 briefing Wednesday, Cuomo said that hospitals where there isn't "fear of a COVID surge" may restart outpatient treatments. That general description would appear to apply to Cayuga County, which has reported 49 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and minimal hospitalizations. There has been one coronavirus-related death in the county.听

In the last 11 days, five people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Cayuga County.听

But the guidelines hospitals must meet to begin conducting elective surgeries again isn't limited to concern about a potential spike in COVID-19 cases. Jim Malatras, president of Empire State College and one of Cuomo's advisers, explained that hospitals can reopen for the procedures if they have at least 30% overall bed capacity, 30% intensive care unit capacity and there isn't an increase in the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.听

"Some of the individual hospitals don't meet one of those tests and some of the counties haven't met that test, so that's why you see some of the differences in the regions just based on the hospitalizations of those specific regions," Malatras said.听

After Cuomo's briefing, the governor's office told 水果派AV that elective surgeries can't resume in Cayuga County because Auburn Community Hospital doesn't have enough bed capacity. The hospital has 14.67% of its total beds available and 21% open in its intensive care unit 鈥� both of which are under the 30% threshold set by the state.听

Matthew Chadderdon, vice president of marketing and public affairs for Auburn Community Hospital, said the hospital is working with the state Department of Health to "understand the criteria for reopening for elective surgeries and believe any issues with capacity and available beds in our ICU and other departments will be clarified soon."聽

A few weeks ago, Chadderdon continued, the hospital's management assembled a team to develop plans for resuming elective surgeries and other services. That team has been meeting regularly, he said, to formulate a strategy that includes strict safety guidelines for patients.听

"The plan is a roadmap to guide readiness, prioritization and scheduling," Chadderdon said. "The roadmap will include timing, testing, adequate equipment, prioritization and scheduling, as well as COVID-related safety and risk mitigation, patient communications, environmental cleaning and regulatory issues."聽

Auburn Community Hospital hasn't cared for many COVID-19 patients. Chadderdon said there have been less than 10 COVID-19 patients at the hospital over a 55-day period.听

By comparison, Onondaga County reported on Wednesday that it has 39 COVID-19 patients in its hospitals. Despite having more than three dozen patients with the coronavirus, it didn't affect the hospitals' ability to reopen for elective procedures.听

The resumption of elective treatments could provide a much-needed revenue boost to hospitals. Many hospitals, including Auburn, sustained severe financial losses due to the coronavirus pandemic. Chadderdon told 水果派AV last week that the number of surgeries at the hospital decreased by approximately 85% since Cuomo's order took effect in March.听

"We look forward to announcing a date very soon on when surgeries will reopen at Auburn Community Hospital," Chadderdon said.听

With 11 cases, Genoa has the second-most cases in the county. It also had the largest increase in cases since the last data release, with nine more residents testing positive over the last two weeks.听

There were two new cases reported in Auburn, bringing the city's total up to seven. The towns of Brutus and Locke also had two new cases since mid-April. Two towns 鈥� Conquest and Fleming 鈥� each had one new positive case.听

Overall, there have been positive cases of the virus in 12 towns and the city of Auburn. Ten towns haven't had a confirmed case, but residents have been quarantined due to contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.听

Summerhill is the lone Cayuga County town that hasn't had a confirmed case or a quarantined resident.听

Mandatory quarantine has been ordered for 220 county residents, according to the health department. More than a third of those are in Auburn (82). There have been confirmed cases of COVID-19 involving people who were initially quarantined due to exposure to someone with the virus.听

Cayuga County Public Health Director Kathleen Cuddy addressed the release of town-level data in an email to 水果派AV on Saturday. She reiterated the need for people to realize that COVID-19 is "present everywhere" and could cause widespread illness.听

"This has been a consistent message from the Cayuga County Health Department and other credible resources," Cuddy said.听

No new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported Monday. Four people remain in mandatory isolation after testing positive. There have been 43 people who recovered and were discharged from isolation.听

The county has one coronavirus-related death: A man in his 40s who had underlying health conditions.听

As of Monday, the county has received 899 test results 鈥� 48 positives and 851 negatives. The health department is awaiting the results of 15 tests.听

In neighboring Onondaga County, officials reported one more death from COVID-19 on Monday, raising the total in that county to 26. They also reported 21 new positive coronavirus test results to bring the total to 819. That includes two new cases in the town of Lysander, which borders part of Cayuga County. Among other bordering towns from Onondaga County, Skaneateles (15), Elbridge (2) and Spafford (2) had no new cases.

Two other counties that border Cayuga reported COVID-19 deaths on Monday. A Wayne County death was the first for that county, while an Oswego County death was its third. Wayne is now up to 68 confirmed coronavirus cases while Oswego is at 61.

Seneca County reported one new case for the first time in several days, raising its total to 34. Like Onondaga County, Seneca provides daily town-by-town figures, but the new case did not change numbers for the two towns that have land borders with Cayuga County. The town of Seneca Falls has had six cases while Tyre has had one.

Cortland County continued to report its confirmed case total at 32 through Monday, while Tompkins County, with 130 confirmed cases, also said it had no new cases.

Two-thirds of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 are in households with other confirmed cases, according to the Cayuga County Health Department.听

Contact tracing has been completed for the newest cases. There are 61 people in mandatory quarantine because they had direct contact with someone who tested positive for the virus. It's unknown how many of those quarantined are linked to the three new confirmed cases.听

There are five people, including the three new cases, in mandatory isolation. Isolation is ordered when someone tests positive for COVID-19. So far, 46 people have recovered and were discharged from isolation.听

Thirty males and 22 female patients have tested positive for COVID-19. A bulk of the cases are under age 40. There have been four children under age 10 who've tested positive, including an infant who was 3 1/2 months old at the time of the test. Five children in the 10-19 age range have contracted the virus.听

A plurality of the cases has been in the 30-39 age range (21), with 13 cases among those in their 20s. Four people in their 50s and three people in their 60s have tested positive for COVID-19. There have been two cases in the 40-49 age group, including a man who died of COVID-19 鈥� the lone death reported in Cayuga County.听

The county achieved a milestone within the last 24 hours. There have been more than 1,000 residents tested for COVID-19. The Cayuga County Health Department has received 990 results 鈥� 52 positives and 938 negatives 鈥� and is awaiting the results of 18 tests.听

In Onondaga County, where officials have recently expanded testing efforts to include pro-active testing at senior living facilities, 44 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases were announced Thursday. The total number of cases now stands at 920 and the number of active cases went from 296 to 326.

Onondaga County also announced that three more people died from the coronavirus, bringing the total number of deaths there to 33.

Only one other county bordering Cayuga reported a newly confirmed case on Thursday. Wayne County officials said there was one additional positive test result, bringing the total there to 70.

Among the other surrounding counties, Tompkins has had the most cases with 132, followed by Oswego (62), Seneca (34) and Cortland (32).