Rockland County Legislator Aron Wieder wants additional COVID-19 data to be immediately released to facilitate a deeper understanding of the local impacts of the virus.
"Without this information, we don't fully know what we are dealing with and where intervention may be needed to help slow the spread of the virus and, most importantly, save precious lives," Legislator Wieder said.
Legislator Wieder said the County Executive and the County Health Department have been too narrowly focused on using only zip code breakdowns that show the numbers of people tested and the numbers of people who tested positive.
The information is misleading, he said, because what's needed are the details about the numbers of deaths, hospitalizations, and patients in intensive care - broken down by town and zip code.
"The death and hospitalization rates are indicative of what's happening in a certain area even if large numbers of people aren't getting tested in that area," Legislator Wieder said.
The number of positive cases per zip code alone could mean more people in certain areas were being tested versus other areas of the county. For example, he said, while most people seeking tests in Rockland have probably gone to the Anthony Wayne testing site, many people from Monsey and Spring Valley have also been able to get tested closer to their homes at Med-Rite in Spring Valley.
"What we need is data on the number of deaths, the number of people on ventilators and the number of people in the intensive care unit per zip code per town," Legislator Wieder said. "That will be a true reflection of who is sick and how sick people are."
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