Fewer COVID Cases Reported, Vaccinations Up
A little more than three dozen new confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported Wednesday by the Chautauqua County Department of Health, one of the lowest daily totals in recent memory. To date there have been 6,822 confirmed cases, with 37 new ones noted by the health department and 339 currently considered active.
No new virus-related deaths were recorded and remain at 111 during the pandemic, while the number of people with COVID in the hospital was at 38 and 1,869 in quarantine.
Of the new cases reported, which is from data collected Tuesday, two come from the Dunkirk zip code, nine in Fredonia, nine in Jamestown and three each in Dewittville and Lakewood.
The number of people vaccinated has increased within the county. As of Jan. 30, 8,693 people had received their first dose — representing about 6.7% of the population — while 1,672 had received their second dose.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday afternoon announced 35 community-based pop-up vaccination sites coming online this week at churches, community centers, public housing complexes and cultural centers.
However, none of these sites are located in Chautauqua or Cattaraugus counties with the closest located in Lackawanna. The governor’s office did note that more sites would coming online every week.
In related news, Cuomo touted the recent decrease in the statewide COVID positivity rate — the number of confirmed cases compared to the number of tests administered.
“New Yorkers have shown it and the numbers reflect it: We are New York Tough,” Cuomo said in his daily update. “Our statewide positivity rate is decreasing by the day, and with our distribution networks at the ready for more supply from the federal government, we are prepared to get needles in arms as quickly as possible, getting us one step closer to our goal of winning this war. I applaud New Yorkers for their discipline and dedication to defeating this virus, and continue to ask everyone to keep this trend going and wear a mask, avoid gatherings and socially distance.”
The statewide positivity rate over a seven-day average was at 4.86%, the lowest since Dec. 4. In Chautauqua County, the rate over the same seven days was 6.1%.
According to the state, there were three virus-related deaths reported Tuesday in the county. The state’s death report and county’s hasn’t always matched up, so it’s unclear if the fatalities are new or if already recorded by county health officials.
In Cattaraugus County, 28 new COVID cases were reported Tuesday, bringing the total to date to 3,805. There were currently 390 active cases along with 3,337 total recoveries, 78 deaths and a seven-day positivity rate of 3.9%.
Meanwhile, there were five new cases, no deaths, and a drop in hospitalizations in Warren County’s latest report. According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, there had been a total of 2,040 cases and 92 deaths in the county as of Wednesday.
All of the new cases fell in the ‘probable’ category. There were no new confirmed cases.
The number of COVID-positive patients at Warren General Hospital was down three from Tuesday’s report. There were three COVID patients in the hospital — none on ventilators and none in intensive care.
Brian Ferry in Warren County contributed to this story.