The number of new people getting the COVID-19 vaccine is at one of the lowest points since the rollout began, according to a review of the latest U.S. government data. Read More ⇒

Faced with a surge in coronavirus cases driven by the fast-spreading omicron variant, U.S. health officials urged wider use of medical-grade face masks in the general public. Read More ⇒

AKWESASNE — The St. Regis Mohawk Tribe’s Emergency Operations Center and Health Services announced Wednesday that COVID-19 isolation and quarantine guidelines will be updated to better align with the Franklin County Public Health Department. Read More ⇒

ALBANY — New York is “turning the corner” on the omicron-fueled winter surge as COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and the state’s overall positivity rate all fell for the first time in weeks, Gov. Kathy Hochul said Friday. Read More ⇒

MASSENA — COVID-19 guidance is changing on a regular basis, but it doesn’t necessarily impact everyone immediately. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — Samaritan Medical Center is asking the city for financial aid from some of its $22 million American Rescue Plan funding to offset Samaritan’s losses caused by the pandemic. Read More ⇒

CANTON — All St. Lawrence University employees were notified by senior staff members on Thursday that they would be required to be fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 under an updated policy. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — The tri-county area reported a combined 753 new cases of COVID-19 Friday. Read More ⇒

SYRACUSE — The number of Onondaga County residents with COVID-19 in Syracuse hospital beds has crept up to 225, the highest level in the past year, the county Health Department reported Friday. Read More ⇒

NORFOLK — Anyone who has a question regarding the local impact of COVID-19 on schools may very well find their answer in a series of frequently asked questions and their answers prepared by Norwood-Norfolk Central School Superintendent James M. Cruikshank. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — Jefferson County is asking the state for help in getting more residents tested for COVID-19, putting in a request for additional workers to staff Samaritan Medical Center’s free drive-up testing site. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — The Jefferson County Public Health Service earlier this week sent out new COVID-19 isolation and quarantine guidance in the form of a flowchart adapted from the Onondaga County Health Department for those who test positive for COVID-19 and those who have been a close contact of a… Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — St. Lawrence County reported one new COVID-19 death Thursday as the number of virus cases grew by 809 across the tri-county area. Read More ⇒

OGDENSBURG — As COVID-19 cases in the area continue to rise, Ogdensburg City Manager Stephen P. Jellie has announced that city offices will remain closed to the public on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays until further notice. They have been closed those days since Aug. 23, when he initially m… Read More ⇒

Of the KN95 face masks distributed by the state to counties over the last month, 5% are potentially defective and may not provide quality protection against COVID-19, officials said Wednesday, after one Western New York county voiced concerns that its latest shipment of state-issued face cov… Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — Samaritan Keep Home announced in a Facebook post Wednesday that there has been an additional resident who tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the total number of active cases to 21. Read More ⇒

CANTON — A mass COVID-19 testing site will open on the SUNY Canton campus Thursday. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — The tri-county area reported a combined 907 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — The combined number of reported positive COVID-19 cases in the tri-county area climbed by more 1,000 Tuesday. Read More ⇒

Private health insurance plans will cover up to eight over-the-counter COVID-19 tests per consumer each month under a new Biden administration directive meant to make tests more affordable. Read More ⇒

POTSDAM — Free COVID-19 mass testing sites are opening to the general public at SUNY Potsdam and SUNY Canton. Read More ⇒

The omicron COVID-19 variant continued to pummel New York state’s hospitals on Monday, but emerging data signal the strain is beginning to loosen its grip. Read More ⇒

An omicron-specific booster shot could be ready by the fall, Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel said Monday. Read More ⇒

CANTON — All visitors to municipally owned buildings in the town and village of Canton are required to wear masks no matter their vaccination status. Read More ⇒

NEW YORK — New York reported a record 90,132 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday as the state passed 4 million total infections since the start of the pandemic. Read More ⇒

Public health officials in St. Lawrence, Jefferson and Lewis counties say that the increasing use of at-home rapid antigen COVID-19 tests is a positive development in the fight against the pandemic. But they’re sometimes hard to get and also skew a county’s positivity rate. Read More ⇒

OSWEGO — The Oswego County Emergency Management Office is distributing more than 50,000 KN95 face masks in collaboration with municipalities, school districts and community organizations. Read More ⇒

LOWVILLE — Lewis County’s Saturday morning supply of at-home COVID-19 test kits and KN95 masks quickly ran out. Read More ⇒

CANTON — KN95 masks can be reused outside of health care or other high risk settings, but not for very long and they must undergo one of three specific sanitization methods between uses. Otherwise, they can only be used once. Read More ⇒

CANTON — St. Lawrence County legislators passed a resolution last week encouraging the Public Health Department not to issue fines to businesses for violations of the state’s mask mandate. Read More ⇒

NEW YORK — Children ages 18 and younger hospitalized with COVID-19 complications increased by more than 700% over the last month, according to a report released by the state Department of Health on Friday. Read More ⇒

NEW YORK — COVID-19 booster vaccine doses will be mandated for all New York health care workers and negative coronavirus tests will be required for visitors to state nursing homes and adult-care facilities mid-next week as part of the state’s latest efforts to slow virus transmission, Gov. K… Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — The Jefferson County Public Health Service on Friday updated isolation protocols for people with COVID-19 and quarantine protocols for people exposed to COVID-19, following the shortened periods set by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the state Department o… Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — On Friday, Jefferson County announced it is updating isolation and quarantine protocol changes for people with COVID-19, and for people exposed to COVID-19. Read More ⇒

As omicron sweeps through North America, the U.S. and Canadian responses couldn’t be more different. U.S. states are largely open for business, while Canada’s biggest provinces are shutting down. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — Jefferson County announced Friday that the county has received about 5,000 home COVID-19 test kits from New York state to be distributed to county residents. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — St. Lawrence County reported one new COVID-19 death Friday as the number of new infections rose by 593 across the tri-county area. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — Samaritan Health reported Thursday that through recent routine resident testing, 15 Keep Home residents tested positive for COVID-19. Read More ⇒

Residents in the shoreline towns of Lyme, Cape Vincent, Clayton and Alexandria can still get their hands on a KN95 mask free of charge if they want one. Read More ⇒

MALONE — Franklin County Public Health will be hosting a COVID-19 vaccination clinic every week throughout January and late into February. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — Lewis County reported one new COVID-19 death Thursday as the number of new infections rose by 784 across the tri-county area. Read More ⇒

MASSENA — Town of Massena residents who planned on paying their 2022 town and county taxes in person will have to use an alternative method. Read More ⇒

CANTON — The town of Canton has received KN95 masks from St. Lawrence County to be distributed to town residents, Supervisor Mary Ann Ashley said in a press release Wednesday. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — The tri-county area reported a combined 648 new COVID-19 cases Wednesday. Read More ⇒

WATERTOWN — For people experiencing severe COVID-19 symptoms, the monoclonal antibody therapy offered at Samaritan Medical Center can be a lifesaver. Read More ⇒

CANTON — Dr. Andrew F. Williams, president of the county Board of Health, warned St. Lawrence County legislators Monday night that now is the “calm before the storm” due to skyrocketing cases of Omicron across the country and New York state. Read More ⇒

More than 1 million people in the U.S. were diagnosed with COVID-19 on Monday as a tsunami of omicron swamps every aspect of daily American life. Read More ⇒

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now recommends getting Pfizer’s COVID-19 booster shot five months after completing the brand’s initial two-dose vaccination series. Read More ⇒