Oneida County reports highest COVID-19 single-day death toll of nine

UTICA, N.Y. — Oneida County on Thursday reported nine people had died from a COVID-19 infection, its highest single-day total during the ongoing pandemic.

Of the nine deaths, four were people in nursing homes.

“Today we are reporting the most daily deaths from COVID-19 that we have ever had,” Oneida County Executive Anthony Picente, Jr. said in the county’s Thursday afternoon update “It is deeply troubling that nine more of our families have to suffer such tragic loss at the hands of this pandemic. Our thoughts and prayers are with them as we continue to fight COVID-19 on all fronts. This deadly reminder is further evidence of how desperately needed the vaccine is. Oneida County needs more. The lives of our people depend on it.”

The nine deaths bring Oneida County’s COVID-19 death toll to 312.

Oneida County also reported 176 new cases, increasing the county’s total case count to 16,988. Of the 176 new cases, eight are nursing-home residents.

The county also reported vaccination data as of midnight on Jan. 20. In the Oneida County-operated points of distribution (PODs), the Utica location of Mohawk Valley Community College vaccinated 280 residents in the last day while the POD at Griffiss International Airport in Rome had 174 residents get inoculated — bringing the total number of residents vaccinated at the Oneida County-operated PODs to 4,278.

For the Oneida County-operated PODs, the estimated total doses allocated to Oneida County government to date is 4,800. The county on Thursday afternoon reported 520 remaining doses, having used 92 percent of those doses, per its Thursday update.

In the non-Oneida County operated PODs, Mohawk Valley Health System (MVHS) has administered a total of 7,972 doses, including 6,546 first doses and 1,426 second doses. In addition, the Rome Memorial Hospital POD has administered 2,781 doses.

The county says it does not have data on the number of vaccinations that have taken place at other sites such as clinics, urgent-care centers, and pharmacies.