205 Tested After 3 Coronavirus Cases At Pleasantville Church

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — So far, 205 people have been tested in response to a coronavirus outbreak among staff at Holy Innocents Catholic Church in Pleasantville, Westchester County Executive George Latimer said at a news briefing Tuesday.

Half the test results have come back, and all of those are negative, he said.

Many people in Pleasantville and surrounding communities began voluntarily quarantining last week after two priests and a lay staffer reported testing positive for the virus. The church had held services and a First Communion event while the three were contagious, county health officials said. SEE: 400 Possibly Exposed To Coronavirus At Pleasantville Church

That was a warning sign for Westchester, given that the nation's first coronavirus hot spot stemmed from events at a synagogue in New Rochelle.

"There was a great concern that we would see a spike," Latimer said at a news briefing Tuesday. "Now half of the tests haven't come back yet. And we have to see just how many more people who might have been exposed come forward to be tested and that's obviously what we've encouraged."

The people who've been tested and gotten negative results still must quarantine.

"Right now we're very encouraged, that's very good news, but my nature is always to be cautious," he said. "We take proper care, we go forward."

Pleasantville village officials were also cautious. "While this is good news, we still await the remainder of the results. Please note that the current quarantine order related to this exposure issued by the New York State and Westchester County Departments of Health remain in effect. Further updates will be provided as information is made available," they said in an email to residents.

Countywide, under 5 percent of the active cases of coronavirus are serious enough to require hospitalization as of Sunday, Latimer said. "That hospitalization of 28 cases is really very good news."

The county released its most recent coronavirus map: