Broome County Executive Jason Garnar says while the number of hospital beds available for COVID-19 and other patients in the region is adequate for now, he's concerned about the growing number of patients needing care.

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Broome County is now reporting the most residents hospitalized due to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic.

During his weekly update December 9, the Executive said there were 54 Broome County residents hospitalized with COVID and residents from surrounding counties that don't have healthcare facilities like Lourdes and UHS are also being cared for in Binghamton-area hospitals.

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Garnar says of even bigger concern is healthcare worker staffing.   Healthcare workers are among the approximately 4,700 people quarantined in the county and that means they are not able to go to work to care for the sick.

Garnar says people have to bear that in mind and do everything possible to stop the spread of the coronavirus, helping to keep healthcare workers on the job and reduce the stress on the system.

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