Otsego County Tops 1K

COVID Cases Since Spring

COOPERSTOWN – With 12 Hartwick College students testing positive for COVID-19 today, the county has reported 1,011 cases of the virus since the pandemic started this spring, according to Heidi Bond, Otsego County public health director.

“We are busier now than we were in April,” she said. “We have more cases now. People are getting lax with social distancing, they’re gathering with friends and family and not wearing masks.”

Currently, there are 43 active cases, many stemming from a gathering at Red’s Ale House on the weekend of Oct 17-18, which infected 27 Hartwick College students and two of the bar’s employees. Additionally, 19 cases were linked to a 75-person wedding in the Town of Otsego.

“Close contact without masks is how we’re seeing spread,” she said.