BINGHAMTON, NY (WSKG) — Broome County has seen a 21% spike in COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks.
During the county’s weekly COVID update, Deputy County Executive Michael Ponticiello said case numbers had fallen a few weeks ago. He attributed the recent rise to Halloween.
“This appears to be stemming from get-togethers that were related to the Halloween weekend,” said Ponticiello. “As we continue to see all of the new cases stemming mostly from household spread.”
Ponticiello said the increase has pushed Broome County’s positivity rate to 6.5%.
“Almost 30 percent of new cases last week were in children under the age of 17,” said Ponticiello. “And almost 60 percent of new cases were in people under the age of 40.”
Broome County currently has over 700 active COVID cases, with 64 people currently hospitalized.