BUFFALO, N.Y. — Erie County is seeing a concerning increase in the number of positive cases of COVID-19. The number of positive cases reported for Tuesday was 167, for a daily percent positive rate of 5 percent.
At a Wednesday afternoon briefing, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz says the 711 confirmed cases for the week ending October 31 is the most the county has seen in quite some time. Eleven people have succumbed to the virus since October 26.
Despite that spike, Erie County Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein says the numbers in the top 10 zip codes still do not meet the criteria to be designated a yellow, orange or red zone by the state.
The Erie County Commissioner of Health said there’s no single reason behind the high rate. Epidemiologists and contact tracers say case investigations show the reasons behind the increase in cases include positive COVID-19 cases in schools, those who have recently traveled, including sports teams, and rapid spread among those in the same household. A few cases, Burstein said, can be attributed to nursing homes.
Wednesday evening, 2 On Your Side spoke with Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul about the increase in cases.
"Deeply disturbing. We’ve been warning about what could happen for fall when people congregate more indoors. They get tired of wearing their masks, having larger family gatherings, schools, colleges. All these things are a recipe for something that could be rather devastating," Hochul said. "We need people to be as compliant as they were in the very beginning."
Many people have been asking if this trend continues in the WNY region could we face another shutdown, Hochul said she does not anticipate that.
“We are in a different situation right now we don't foresee the need to have a wholesale closing of businesses across the state or region because we can be much more targeted now," she said. "If we see a cluster in an area we can deploy extra testing, contact tracing to isolate and shut it down.”
Meanwhile, new state protocols regarding travel officially went into effect Wednesday, November 4. Burstein says you should think twice about traveling right now.
"Our testing results are reflective of our community’s behavior," Burstein said. "So, this is something we could have control over. If people are going out, if they mask, if they stay in small groups, if they really, we’re even seeing transmission within small parties. So, that’s nothing safe. Try to hunker down, stay indoors, stay with your immediate family."
In regards to schools, Burstein says the county saw an explosion of cases in schools during October. Between October 4 and November 4, 215 students and school staff in Erie County tested positive for the virus. She added not all of the spread has taken place within a school, but includes transmission outside the school into the community as well.
"To those who are going to be deniers and hoaxers, you're hurting the rest of the community because you're the ones not wearing masks, who aren't caring about it. It's serious," Poloncarz said.
