BUFFALO, N.Y. — COVID-19 hospitalizations continue to slightly increase in Erie County. There are currently 40 hospitalizations, with eight of those in ICU for July 6.
Overall, 7,466 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and 642 people have died of COVID-19 related illness in Erie County.
Erie County Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein says they are seeing more and more COVID-19 cases among in their 20s and 30s. She says nearly half of the cases are in that age range and that many of them are due to travel out of state and attending parties.
"Of late, we've been seeing more and more cases among people in their 20s and 30s," she said. "And actually, these are data for this past week, looking at the proportion of positive COVID tests by age, so you can see that 43 percent -- almost half of our cases recently diagnosed for COVID in Erie County -- are people in their 20s and 30s. This is an alarming trend, and it's a trend, I'm sure, that you've seen from media in other parts of the country."
Burstein added: "We've seen somewhere between 450 and 500 reports of people traveling to the high-risk states outside of New York, and so people are coming back and getting infected. And also, with parties, I know that people think like, 'Oh, I know the people at this party, they're safe, you know nobody's been infected.' Obviously, somebody has been infected in those parties, so please, be careful."
Health officials say only 5.6 percent of those tested had antibodies.
Lieutenant governor Kathy Hochul said New York is not ruling out further restrictions should the number of cases continue to go in the wrong direction.
"If you want to get back to college in the fall, if you're a young parent with a child heading to kindergarten or preschool this fall, don't delay that by having your actions effect the community," Hochul said.
"So we're not entertaining an cessation of going backward at this time, but if the numbers spike and we can't control them, we have to keep all options on the table. We're not there now."
The county is still doing diagnostic testing for the virus, as well antibody tests. You can call (716) 858-2929. You can also register online for an antibody test. You can get more information here.
Officials say they are still receiving complaints about restaurants, bars and food services, as well as complaints about travelers returning from high-risk sites.
