BUFFALO, N.Y. — Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and Erie County Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein held a press conference Friday to share several updates, including to the number of people impacted in Erie County, testing and the budget.
The total number of confirmed positive cases in the county is now at 2,023. Eight more people have died in Erie County due to coronavirus (COVID-19).
That brings the total to 115 COVID-19 related deaths in the county. These deaths do not included presumed positive cases that have passed away. Poloncarz says 50.4% of all the deaths are in the 80+ age range.
On Friday New York State released data on deaths in three local nursing homes which have had 6 or more COVID-19 positive or presumptive-positive deaths. Garden Gate Heath Care Facility has had 11, Harris Hill Nursing Home has had 9, and Father Baker Manor has had 6.
On Thursday Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz tweeted that based on Erie County Department of Health data, 42 of the 107, or 39%, of deaths up to Thursday are associated with long-term care facilities in Erie County.
This means that these three homes make up 26 of the 42 deaths, or nearly 61.9% of the long-term care facility deaths in the county, as of Thursday's data.
Poloncarz said in his press conference that he has heard of issues with local nursing homes, but has not heard of any nursing homes violating Governor Andrew Cuomo's orders to give families prompt notification of if their families are sick.
As of the latest report, 232 people are hospitalized, with 109 in the intensive care unit, and of those, 95 had airway assist.
Burstein says in general, hospitalizations have been fairly steady in the last week, and that discharges have been greater or equal to admissions from April 13 to April 15.
Burstein also discussed how the current percentage of deaths for black and African American individuals is about 10% higher than the population.
Poloncarz also compared Erie County to Cuyahoga County where Cleveland is, and Allegheny County where Pittsburgh is, and Erie County has had more cases and more deaths despite having 300,000 fewer residents.
"Don't be surprised to see the testing numbers go up over the next week," Poloncarz said.
The Erie County Department of Health announced Friday that more people can now get tested for COVID-19 in Erie County. Burstein addressed how to get tested by either the ECDOH or through Kaleida Health, who also announced expanded testing Friday.
The test will now be available to any symptomatic person who works in an industry deemed essential by New York State and the Empire Development Corporation.
To get tested through the Erie County Department of Health, symptomatic essential employees can call (716) 858-2929 and choose option two to begin the testing process.
To get tested through Kaleida, call (716) 859-3222 or visit kaleidahealth.org, however Kaleida does require a doctor referral for testing.
Previously, testing was prioritized for people working in the healthcare industry or who receive dialysis or infusion therapy.
Burstein says that Erie County can now do 100 tests a day.
Poloncarz also brought up the impact that coronavirus is having on Erie County and local governments.
According to Poloncarz, about 45% of the 2020 Erie County budget was planned to go towards heath and human services, before the virus. The budget also depends on sales and hotel tax to be a stream of revenue.
Based on current estimates, Erie County could see a $140 million shortfall in tax revenue.
Poloncarz called on Congress and the president to pass a fourth stimulus package to provide relief to local governments.
2 On Your Side's Steve Brown asked Poloncarz just how soon the county could have to start making tough decisions about the budget, including cutting programs or laying off employees.
Poloncarz said those decisions may have to start happening starting June 1.
"We should be fine through April, but I'm very worried where we will be through May," Poloncarz said.