Children across our state, our country, and the world are still at risk for dangerous diseases. There have been recent outbreaks of measles in New York State. Pertussis (whooping cough) cases are increasing significantly. Influenza remains a cause of hospitalization among infants and young children.…
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Life in the Time of Covid Déjà Vu All Over Again It’s the end of the year and it’s time to reflect where we are regarding many issues. With this column principally about COVID or other viral illnesses, today we will limit ourselves to that. I really regret having to be the Grinch. The title of today’s column is a very famous statement credited to the great American philosopher Lawrence Peter Berra, who is also credited with many similar statements…
HAPPENIN’ OTSEGO for WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26 Film Screening & Discussion ‘Utica: The Last Refuge’ REFUGEE FILM – 6 – 8 p.m. The Otsego Refugee Resettlement Coalition presents screening of film ‘Utica: The Last Refuge’ following the journey of a Sudanese family settling in Utica, the resurgence of the city, and the Mohawk Valley Resource Center for Refugees which is a nationally acclaimed program. Film will be introduced by College President Alberto J.F. Cardelle and Deborah Marcus from the Otsego Refugee Resettlement…
Court grants governor full stay on masks New York’s Appellate court on January 31 granted a full stay to Governor Kathy Hochul’s mask mandate for all public indoor spaces for the remainder of the appeals process currently underway. A state Supreme Court judge first struck down the mandate as unconstitutional on January 24, a second court overturned that decision on the Governor’s appeal. The January 31 Appellate court ruling keeps the mandate alive through the next court date in the…
Life during COVID: December in Otsego By Richard Sternberg M.D. Checking the Otsego County Department of Health dashboard on December 20 showed a distinct uptick in a number of cases of COVID in recent days. Most of these still are probably from Delta, but also are beginning to reflect the Omicron variant. The website did not identify the specific variant of those cases. Dr. Fauci says the number of cases of the Omicron across the United States doubles every two…
Bassett chief reflects on a busy first year at helm [Editor’s note: We invited Dr. Tommy Ibrahim, President and Chief Executive Officer of Bassett Healthcare Network, to reflect on his first year at the helm of our regional healthcare facilities. He provided to The Freeman’s Journal and Hometown Oneonta the following as a first-person, open letter to the communities the network serves.] Dear Friends, Neighbors and Colleagues, By many measures, 2021 was challenging and transformative for our community and Bassett…
Opinion by Richard Sternberg, M.D. A return to normalcy after COVID? It appears the summer surge of COVID-19 in the United States is abating. Numbers are going down except in the hardest hit states. The average number of deaths last week was approximately 1,800 per day and the number of daily infections is about 100,000. These seem to be trending down but if they flare up again and represent averages over the long-term we are talking about 675,000 deaths per…
Opinion by Richard Sternberg M.D. Boosters will provide additional protection Raise your hand if you are as confused as I have been digesting information about COVID-19 booster shots that has come out in the last month. Every day there seems to be something new. As a friend of mine pointed out to me, the media is so desperate for something to publish that they have been writing about the arguments that have led up to the current recommendations. The following…
Opinion by Richard Sternberg M.D. Maybe God wants people to be vaccinated During Hurricane Katrina more than 1,800 people died primarily from flooding caused by the hurricane and by the levees breaking in New Orleans. Many of those who died lived in the city’s ninth ward. Initially a mandatory evacuation order was sent out but many people ignored it and stayed in their homes. A man, who we will call John and who was very religious, was at home. As…
Opinion by Charles Hyman, M.D. Delta variant or not, vaccines are best option There is a lot in the news about the Delta variant of COVID-19 that is now spreading across the United States, threatening to move us back to a time of lockdown, universal masking and social distancing. With all this buzz, I wanted to offer my friends and neighbors some helpful background information. Namely: What is this Delta variant and how did it occur?…