ALBANY, N.Y. — Governor Andrew Cuomo gave an update Monday in Albany, regarding the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The governor says statewide, New York is doing very well compared to the rest of the U.S.; however, Cuomo stressed that New York must continue to flatten the curve and protect the people who live here.
Cuomo also detailed the current COVID-19 infection rates and hospitalization rates across the state.
Statewide, 156,510 COVID tests were reported on Sunday. Of those tests, 9,007 came back positive for a 5.75 percent positive rate. In addition, 6,331 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 across New York.
As for Western New York, the governor says the region has flattened the curve for the time being. However, Cuomo says the current COVID-19 infection rate in the Fingers Lakes region is a problem for Western New York.
"Finger Lakes is a problem because they are part of Western New York," Cuomo said. "There is a lot of travel between Western New York — Buffalo, Erie County, Monroe County etc. And you can't have two contiguous areas where one has a low infection rate and one has a high infection rate, because the high infection rate winds up infecting the lower infection rate."
As of Sunday, the percent positive rate in the Western New York region was at 6.42 percent, while the Finger Lakes region was at 8.28 percent.
In terms of COVID-19 hospitalizations, 474 people are hospitalized in Western New York, which equates to .03 percent of the area's population. The Finger Lakes' hospitalizations are nearly twice as high with 735 people hospitalized, which equates to .06 percent of the area's population.
The Finger Lakes' hospitalization rate is currently the highest in the state.
According to an online COVID-19 tracker for Orleans, Wyoming and Genesee County health departments, Orleans County has 151 active cases, Wyoming County has 122 and Genesee County has 254.
"That number has risen over the last few weeks, I think we are doing a better job of identifying the positives in our community" said Genesee County Manager Matthew Landers.
Landers said that may be attributed to free testing clinics started this month for both symptomatic and asymptomatic people.
In terms of hospitalizations, Landers said there are 25 Genesee County residents currently hospitalized with COVID-19 at Genesee, Erie and Monroe County hospitals.
"It is a concern of ours that there is that many Genesee County residents that are in the hospital, but as far as the capacity of our local hospitals, it's not as much of a concern. We look at that Finger Lakes region-wide" he said.
Landers is working on a public service announcement to help stress the importance of following public health measures.
