Coronavirus: Dutchess cases spiking as testing increases

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The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in Dutchess County increased by around 50% over the weekend.

The total number of cases in the county was 392 as of Monday, up from 262 on Saturday, and up from 100 last Monday, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office.

The jump comes after multiple testing sites opened in Dutchess on March 23, and officials expect it to continue as more results come in.

"We are seeing the numbers spike now and expect there will be a continuous climb in positive case numbers over the next days and weeks," said Colleen Pillus, spokesperson for the Dutchess County Executive Marc Molinaro's office. "We cannot definitively say when we would see a peak in numbers."

The increase comes as Dutchess announced a third death related to COVID-19.

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A testing site operated by the county and Nuvance Health opened at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill on Monday, as did a site at the Pulse-MD Urgent Care in Poughkeepsie. Accordingly, the number of tests conducted in the county has jumped. As of Monday, 2,066 people had been tested, including 422 reported between Saturday and Sunday, according to Cuomo's office.

Pillus noted the test results from the two county sites could take up to seven days to complete.

Molinaro said this spike is not itself a cause for concern but the result of more accurate data on the epidemic's local impact. This data, he said, will allow the county to more effectively respond to local health needs.

"We have known for several weeks the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 was likely just a fraction of the cases in our community, but we needed wider testing to get a true picture of how many Dutchess County residents had the virus," he said. "Now that we have screening available at the intermodal building at Dutchess Stadium and Pulse-MD Urgent Care, more people are being tested, giving us a more accurate assessment of the spread of the virus throughout Dutchess County, enabling us to better deploy the resources necessary to care for the sick and slow the virus’ proliferation."

Dutchess had, as of Monday, the sixth-highest total number of cases outside of New York City, 16 more than Erie and more than a thousand fewer than Orange's 1,435. Overall, the state has seen more than 66,400 cases and more than 1,200 deaths.

The third Dutchess resid to die as a results of the illness was a 61-year-old man, the county announced. The man died at Vassar Brothers Medical Center in Poughkeepsie on Sunday. He was initially admitted to the hospital for an unrelated issue but tested positive for COVID-19.

The county declined to release further details on the victim due to privacy reasons.

Geoffrey Wilson: gwilson@poughkeepsiejournal.com; 845-437-4882; Twitter: @GeoffWilson_