NEW YORK — In a conference call with media on Sunday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced 1,024 rapid COVID-19 diagnostic tests were conducted on Saturday across the eight state-run sites in Western New York.
The rapid tests, which give results in about 15 minutes, were brought to Western New York during a spike in cases to help quickly identify those with coronavirus.
The governor broke down the results of the 1,024 tests performed on Day One by the eight rapid testing sites:
- City of Buffalo - 5.5% positive
- Erie County (minus Buffalo) - 1.5% positive
- Niagara County - 2.9% positive
- Chautauqua County - 1.5% positive
Contact tracers are now working to identify the sources of the uptick in cases.
Temporary testing sites will continue to operate in Western New York through Wednesday. You will need to call 1-833-NYSTRNG to schedule an appointment. You can see the full list of sites by clicking here.
Across the state, college students are also returning to campus this week, but SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras says that one state campus will be closed for in-person learning for two weeks after many students tested positive.
At least 20 positive cases at Oneonta were connected to student parties. As a result, the state conducted more testing and identified 105 cases, which is roughly three percent of the student and faculty population on campus.
All Oneonta students will be tested for COVID-19.
Any college in New York State that has over 100 cases or a number of cases equal to five percent of the student population will be moved to virtual learning for two weeks, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced this week. After two weeks, the colleges can re-evaluate.
Overall, Saturday was the 23rd day the statewide daily percent positive rate was under one percent.
Delavan-Grider Community Center is one of the eight testing sites where appointments can be made for testing.
Bryan Williams tells 2 On Your Side that the process is really easy.
"It was like quick and painless, very simple. Actually I made the appointment today and was able to get in today."