ERIE COUNTY, N.Y. — A month ago, on November 12, Erie County had 104 people in the hospital for COVID-19.
That number, as of December 12, was 434 people. The number of people in Erie County hospitals has quadrupled, according to Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz.
Just minutes after Governor Andrew Cuomo finished his press conference warning that the state could experience shut downs if the trajectory of virus rates does not change, Poloncarz held a press conference describing the situation in Erie County.
The percent positive rate for the last week decreased slightly compared to the week prior. On the week ending on December 12, 57,062 tests were conducted and 3,628 came back positive, for a rate of 6.4 percent in Erie County.
For the week prior, ending in December 5, 57,751 tests were conducted, 3,628 tests came back positive, for a test rate of 7.4 percent.
This equates to a 16 percent decrease in new cases and a 1 percent decrease in the positivity rate.
On December 12, there were 434 people in Erie County hospitals, including 83 in the ICU, 62 of which are on ventilators, and seven people died in hospitals. Of the patients hospitalized, 35 percent were 64-years-old or younger.
Poloncarz says that about 20 percent of hospital patients are in the ICU and 76.7 percent of overall Erie County hospital beds are occupied.
Almost 1,000 Erie County residents have died from COVID-19. The county reports that 976 people have died in Erie County because of the virus. Of that number, 148 people died in November alone, and so far 97 people have died in December.
The zip codes 14221 (Amherst, Williamsville and Clarence) and 14075 (Hamburg), 14150 (Tonawanda) and 14224 (West Seneca) had the highest numbers of new cases on the week of December 12.
The Amherst, Williamsville and Clarence zip code had 202 new cases, the Hamburg zip code had 173 new cases, and both the Tonawanda and West Seneca zip codes had 172 new cases each.
Initial doses of the COVID-19 vaccine will be received Monday or Tuesday in local hospital systems, to be provided to hospital workers, the county executive said.
Poloncarz expressed that he doesn't know exactly where all of the initial doses are going, he say the county is not releasing where they are being delivered to yet, as he does not want the general public showing up at these locations. Right now, only health care workers are being vaccinated.
Poloncarz emphasized that the vaccine won't be available for months for the general public.
Here is the full list of cases by Zip Code for the week ending December 12, 2020