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Slight COVID increases seen in 2 WNY cluster zones on Saturday

The Erie County Orange Zone saw a slight increase and the Niagara County Yellow Zone rose above 7 percent from Friday to Saturday for the rolling 7-day average.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The rates for the Erie County Orange Zone, and the surrounding Erie and Niagara County Yellow Zones, saw slight changes in their rolling seven-day averages on Saturday. 

The Governor's office shared data showing that the Orange Zone saw a slight increase in the average, the Niagara County Yellow Zone rose above 7 percent, and the Erie County Yellow Zone saw a slight decrease in the seven-day rolling average from Friday to Saturday.

On Friday, 42 people died from the virus in New York State. Western New York residents made up nearly a fourth of the deaths on Friday, as 10 residents died from the virus. 

This includes six people in Erie County, two people in Niagara County, one person in Chautauqua County, and one person in Allegany County.

Earlier this week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the state would continue watching Erie County through the weekend before making changes to the cluster zones. 

Cuomo said that the state will wait to make the decision, as he expects that if there is trouble, it would be seen "a few days, seven days, after this Thanksgiving weekend." He had previously warned that Erie County is on track to becoming a Red Zone.

Statewide, hospitalizations, patients in the ICU and patients on a ventilator have risen. 

Cluster Zones & Regional Rates

Niagara County's Yellow Zone rolling seven-day average rose from 6.90 percent on Friday to 7.16 percent on Saturday, according to the Governor's office.

Erie County's Orange Zone seven-day rolling average increased by 0.07 percent from 7.07 percent on Friday to 7.14 percent on Saturday. 

Erie County's Yellow Zone did see its seven-day rolling average decrease slightly from 6.93 percent on Friday to 6.81 percent on Saturday.

Western New York's COVID-19 daily percent-positive decreased from Thursday to Friday, from 8.1 percent to 7.4 percent. The region's seven-day rolling average remains the highest in the state at 6.53 percent.

Hospitals statewide

Hospitalizations statewide have increased by 184 to 3,287. There were 433 patients newly admitted and 215 discharged. Of the patients in New York State hospitals, 654 are in intensive care units, up by 18 from the day before. The number of ICU patients intubated has also risen by 37, to 331.

Thus far, 26,632 people have died from the virus in New York State during the pandemic.

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