ERIE COUNTY, N.Y. — Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz gave an update on the county's death report Monday evening on Twitter. According to the Erie County Department of Health, 27 more people have died from coronavirus over the past three days bringing the total number of deaths in Erie County to 162.
As of Monday afternoon there are 2,221 total positive cases of coronavirus in Erie County. Poloncarz says that some people who have died after contracting COVID-19 were determined to have died due to other reasons, such as late stage cancer, may not have been included in this total.
The Erie County Department of Health says 8,649 people have been tested for the virus, up 357 from yesterday.
As of Saturday, 229 people were hospitalized, of those 120 were in the ICU, and 92 of those had an airway assist.
Erie County and Kaleida Health also announced Monday that they will now be now be testing any person that shows symptoms of COVID-19.
People who are showing symptoms of coronavirus and have a doctor should get a referral to be tested through Kaleida. Those without a medical provider but are symptomatic can go through the county.
The symptoms the county shared as symptoms of COVID-19 are:
- Fever
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Chills
- Repeated shaking with chills
- Muscle pain
- Headache
- Sore throat
- New loss of taste or smell
People with symptoms can call (716) 858-2929. Listen carefully to all the options, which include:
- Option 1 is for the public and their general questions
- Option 2 is for people who are sick with COVID-19 symptoms and who have a primary care provider. This will send your call to Kaleida. You can also contact Kaleida directly if you do have a primary care provider.
- Option 3 is for people who are sick with COVID-19 symptoms and do not have a primary care provider. This number will direct you to testing through the County Health Lab.
- Option 4 is for healthcare providers.
ICU usage has increased this past week, but intubations are slightly down.
Local hospitals are trying other methods, such as high flow oxygen through the nose and optimizing posture, to reduce the need for intubations, saving them for worst case scenarios.
“These are high numbers, these are consistently high numbers,” Burstein said. “We are not out of the woods.”
Burstein also went over the fact that men have made up the greater number of deaths due to commodities, such as smoking. Men have made up 57% of deaths in Erie County due to coronavirus.
People of color are making up a quarter of all deaths in Erie County from COVID-19.
Poloncarz says that 24% of people who are being tested are testing positive for COVID-19.
New York State has also given the Erie County Public Health Lab additional machines that will allow them to increase their daily testing, supplies for sample collection, and personal protective equipment (PPE) for hospitals, nursing homes and first responders.
Poloncarz says that they have over a million dollars in equipment, or 100,000 sample kits, from Abbott Laboratories on order that they hope to receive soon to be able to do antibody testing. Poloncarz said the 100,000 tests would cover about 10% of the population.
A tip was made to Erie County regarding Gable's Bar on Hertel Ave in Buffalo, alleging that they were having secret happy hours. Poloncarz said in the press conference that after a sanitarian investigated, they have been closed and reported to the New York State Liquor Authority.