BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Allegany County Department of Health provided an update Tuesday regarding the county's COVID-19 transmission level, saying the county has reached a "substantial" community transmission rate.
According to the county, a majority of the COVID cases were spread through households.
"This means one or more people in the household are positive and pass COVID on to others in the household," the county said in a news release.
"It is not surprising to see that even the rural communities are experiencing the substantial rates of transmission," said Dr. Kevin Watkins, the Public Health Director in nearby Cattaraugus County. He told 2 on Your Side Cattaraugus County has been in the substantial rate of transmission for at least four or five days.
"We're seeing a surge in the number of positive cases within our county and this is most likely due to the delta variant taking its toll not only across the nation but right here in Cattaraugus County as well," said Watkins.
He added, "We'll have to work even harder at trying to reach those who've not been vaccinated, to get them vaccinated. That will help to reduce the spread that we are seeing, especially as these various mutant strains start to pop up all over the country."
The Erie County Department of Health also provided an update on Tuesday for the week ending on August 14. The county, as a whole, remains in the substantial transmission category. However, the health department indicated eight zip codes had 7-day case rates that would already be considered “high” transmission, according to CDC indicators.
We also checked in with Daniel Stapleton, the Niagara County Public Health Director.
He told 2 on Your Side, "The numbers I see now are not showing a huge spike in hospitalizations or infection rate or new cases. We want to keep it that way and we think most people know what they need to do."
However, he too stressed the importance of vaccinations.
"The fact is that anybody who wants to get vaccinated in Niagara County can get vaccinated. It's very easily accessible. It's getting people to make that decision and to move forward and we're working every day to try and do that," said Stapleton.
