Cattaraugus County reported its 238th death from COVID-19 on Tuesday, along with 85 new cases.
The death, a 70-year-old woman, was the fourth one from COVID-19 this month and the 28th this year.
Tuesday’s 85 new coronavirus cases pushed the total since March 2020 to 17,139 cases. There were 193 active cases, the health department reported.
Despite the number of coronavirus cases plateauing and heading downward throughout New York, most regions, including Western New York and Cattaraugus County, transmission remains high and everyone should wear a mask in public indoor settings, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the New York State Department of Health.
On Tuesday, the CDC’s COVID-19 Tracker showed 285 cases over the past seven days and 374.42 cases per 100,000 population. That’s down 42.5% from the previous week.
Tuesday’s new cases include 40 in the southeastern part of the county where there have now been 7,929 cases, 14 new cases each in the southwest and northeast parts of the county where there have now been 3,402 and 3,401 cases respectively, and 17 in the northwest where there have been 2,407 cases.
There have been 8,980 cases involving women, including 52 new cases Tuesday and 33 new cases with men, who now total 8,159 cases.
Appointments for vaccinations can be made through the Cattaraugus County website by visiting: https://www.cattco.org/covid-vacc-info or call the COVID-19 Vaccine Hotline at (716) 701-3777 if you need assistance.To register for a free COVID-19 diagnostic test through the county health department, go online to:
To receive free test kits from the federal government go online to: https://www.covidtests.gov/ Orders will usually ship in 7-12 days.
The CDC reported the county’s seven-day average positivity at 10.8%. By comparison, the Western New York positivity was 8.1% and the state’s was 4.36%.
There have been 24 new hospitalizations in the county over the past seven days. Across Western New York’s five counties there were 411 people with COVID-19 in the hospital on Tuesday.
New York reported 425 new hospitalizations statewide on Tuesday. Of the total 5,019 hospitalizations for COVID-19, 790 are in an ICU and 426 are intubated.
Only 58.4% of the county’s population over age 5 are fully vaccinated.
Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to tell New Yorkers today when she’ll lift the state’s mask mandate, which is currently due to expire Thursday. The mandate could be extended until early next month if COVID-19 cases continue to drop.
The mask mandate in schools is due to expire next week, although the governor has indicated she’d like to tie its lifting to school vaccination rates, which remain low.
New York state reported the fewest number of new cases since Nov. 30 on Tuesday.
In an update on COVID-19 Tuesday, the governor asked New Yorkers who have not been vaccinated to “do so as soon as possible. It’s safe, effective, free, and widely available throughout the state. Keep your loved ones safe and healthy by utilizing the best tools at our disposal.”
