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For the month of October, COVID activity continues to increase both in Tioga County and the counties surrounding Tioga.

In the last 14 days, Tioga County has seen 88 new cases of COVID-19 with 50 of those cases being reported in the last 7 days. This brings our October total to 127 positive cases which represents the highest monthly count since March.

The PCR positivity rate has also increased this week to 7.2 percent. This represents a 31 percent increase from last week’s 5.5 percent and a 350 percent increase from September’s positivity rate of 1.6 percent.

Counties surrounding Tioga are seeing an uptick in COVID activity. Again, this week Bradford and Chemung are the 2 counties with the highest increases in positive COVID cases. In the past 7 days Bradford has seen 199 additional cases and 6 addition deaths and Chemung has seen 330 additional cases and 6 additional deaths.

Level of Community Transmission this week remains the same as last week with Tioga and Lycoming considered Moderate transmission. Bradford County remains Substantial Transmission and has been for the past 3 weeks and Potter County remains Low. Portions of Chemung County have been designated at as Orange which has closed schools and imposes restrictions on businesses for the next 2 weeks.

The rise in Bradford and Chemung counties represents a significant increase in a 7 day period and the Task Force is recommending you limit your travel to these counties to what is absolutely necessary, and if you need to travel to Bradford or Chemung, please exercise extreme caution.

With positive cases on the rise and the positivity rate also increasing, now more than ever, every citizen needs to pay close attention to the level of community spread within our region and do everything necessary to protect yourself and your family.

Halloween is this Saturday and we know from past reporting that holidays pose an increased risk for COVID transmission. Please ensure you have a health and safety plan for any Halloween activities that you plan to participate in. For more information on Halloween safety, including those activities considered low, moderate and high risk, please visit the Task Force Facebook page or the CDC website.

Community means everyone Tioga County, and with cases on the rise in and around our area, now is the time for caution, so please take all necessary steps to protect yourself, your family and our community.

Until next week, stay strong and stay safe.