ALBANY, N.Y. — New York Governor Andrew Cuomo gave an update Saturday regarding the state's response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the governor's office, the state announced a new record high in the number of COVID-19 tests reported. The state says 242,927 COVID-19 test results were reported to New York State on Friday, with 11,129 coming back positive for a 4.58 percent positive rate.
The number of new COVID-19 cases were further broken down by counties. Locally, the following numbers were reported:
- Allegany County: 27
- Cattaraugus County: 38
- Chautauqua County: 51
- Erie County: 474
- Genesee County: 43
- Niagara County: 185
- Orleans County: 22
- Wyoming County: 36
Meanwhile, the Western New York region saw a decrease Friday in its percent positive rate. The region's seven-day average percentage of positive COVID-19 test results was 7.22 percent on Wednesday and Thursday, which then decreased to 6.84 percent on Friday.
The Southern Tier region also saw a decrease. The state reports the Southern Tier's percent positive rate on Wednesday was 2.39 percent, which decreased to 2.27 percent on Thursday and down to 2.20 percent on Friday.
The Western New York region, defined by the state, includes Erie, Niagara, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and Allegany counties.
The Finger Lakes region includes counties that neighbor Western New York, including Genesee, Orleans, and Wyoming, as well as Seneca, Wayne, Yates, Livingston, Monroe, and Ontario.
"COVID cases are continuing to climb nationwide and with the holiday season in full swing, it could get worse before it gets better," Governor Cuomo said. "The federal government must do its job and provide resources to state and local governments to equitably administer the vaccine and provide badly needed support for businesses and the unemployed.
"In the meantime, we are laser focused on ensuring the increase in cases we are seeing does not overwhelm our hospital system and we are putting in place redundancies to shore them up. Ultimately, it's up to each of us to slow the spread of this virus until there is widespread access to a vaccine: wear a mask, socially distance, wash your hands and stay vigilant."
As of Friday, there were 535 people in Western New York hospitals, which equates to .04 percent of the region's population. Meanwhile, the Southern Tier reports 151 people were hospitalized Friday, which equates to .02 percent of the region's population.
In regard to the current available bed capacity, the Western New York region currently has 26 percent of hospital beds available, while the Southern Tier has 40 percent.
As for the ICU bed capacity, the state reports that there are currently 285 occupied ICU beds in the Western New York region and 86 occupied ICU beds in the Southern Tier region. At this time, 47 percent of ICU beds in Western New York are available, while 33 percent is available in the Southern Tier.
Eighteen people died in Western New York from COVID-19 on Friday.