ITHACA, N.Y. — New numbers from the Tompkins County Health Department announced that positive cases of coronavirus have risen to 48 on Friday, up from 32 on Thursday.

The county has also taken the step of requesting that residents stay at home as officials say they now have evidence of community spread in Tompkins County. Community spread is defined when individuals are infected by each other with the virus, including some who are not sure how or where they became infected, according to TCHD. This makes it more difficult for TCHD's contact investigation nurses to track how or when an individual may have contracted the virus.

“Community spread reinforces the need to be vigilant in staying home. We recognize the sacrifices being made by everyone to adapt as we work together through this time of crisis,” states Frank Kruppa, Public Health Director. “We all play a role in stopping the spread of COVID-19.”

YOUR LOCAL HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES NEWS IS MADE POSSIBLE WITH SUPPORT FROM:

16 is the largest single-day increase in positive cases in Tompkins to date. Tompkins County officials also announced that they would not be releasing information on quarantines, as the number has become increasingly hard to track. (The metric has also been removed from our data tables.)