Broome County terminates COVID dashboard

(WBNG) -- Do you still care about COVID-19 data in Broome County? You’ll have to look elsewhere for information pertaining to the virus in 2023.

The Broome County Health Department announced it will stop updating its COVID-19 dashboard beginning Jan. 3. Instead, the health department recommends people go to the Centers for Disease Control and the New York State Department of Health websites for information about COVID in Broome County.

The last update will be made on Jan. 3 to reflect virus cases reported to the Broome County Health Department through Dec. 31. Any cases reported after that will not be included in the dashboard.

The dashboard contained information such as the total number of cases reported, deaths by age group, vaccine statuses and more.

As of Dec. 30, Broome County reported nearly 71,000 cases of COVID and 595 deaths. The most deaths were reported in January 2021, when 86 people were reported to have succumbed to the virus.

Since the first four deaths were reported in March 2020, at least one person has died from the virus in Broome County every month through December 2022. Most of the dead were between the ages of 80 and 89. Only one person between the age of 19 and 29 died.

During the height of the pandemic, Broome County Executive Jason Garnar held daily COVID-19 briefings announcing updates regarding the virus. They’d typically start with him announcing deaths and the ages of the victims. He’d also let the public know if the victim was a resident of Willow Point Nursing Home. Then-Broome County Director of Public Health Rebecca Kaufman would also be at the briefings, discussing the county’s plans for controlling the disease and mitigating its spread.

The health department also use to announce where people were possibly exposed to the virus, such as diners, bars and other small locations. The notifications were faced with criticism as some believed they scared people from supporting local businesses.

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