BUFFALO, N.Y. — New York Governor Andrew Cuomo provided an update into the state's progress on the COVID-19 pandemic on Tuesday, November 17 saying, "The number of cases across the country and in New York are only continuing to climb."
For the Western New York region, it was another day where the region had the highest COVID-19 positive rate in the entire state.
The state reported the region had a daily COVID-19 percent positive rate of 6.5 percent for Monday. Below is the positivity rate over the past three days:
- Saturday, November 14: 5.6 percent
- Sunday, November 15: 5.2 percent
- Monday, November 16: 6.5 percent
Those were all the highest in the state for each given day.
For the Erie County Yellow Zone, the state reports that the positivity rate for Monday increased nearly 2 percent from Sunday increasing to 8.05 percent on Monday. (The positivity rate for the Erie County cluster reported to the state for Sunday was 6.36 percent)
The current seven day rolling average for the Erie County cluster is 7.33 percent.
The state also reports that there were 392 new positive cases in Erie County and there were 11 new COVID-related deaths in the county.
"Our micro-cluster strategy and testing capacity will help us through this new season, but ensuring we don't go back to where we were in the spring is going to depend on our behavior," Governor Cuomo said in the release. "We all have a part to play - wear a mask, stay socially distant, avoid gatherings large and small, and wash your hands religiously. Our actions today determine our rate of positive cases tomorrow - it's that simple. We can manage this phase the same way we did before: by holding each other to account and staying New York Tough."
The Western New York Region includes Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties.
Cuomo reported that the statewide COVID-19 positivity rate for Monday was 3.18 percent.
