OLEAN — Another Cattaraugus County resident died of COVID-19 complications on Sept. 29 — the 269th victim since the pandemic started in March 2020 and the eighth person this month.
The total number of COVID-19 cases reached 22,863 on Sept. 30 with the addition of 31 new coronavirus cases, the county health department reported.
There have been 848 cases reported this month, moving it ahead of August, when there were 802 cases. September was the fourth worst month this year behind January, which had the record number of COVID-19 cases, 4,739; May, with 1,434 cases; and February, with 1,161 cases. There were 411 cases in March, 740 in April, 479 in June and 383 in July.
“We will see peaks and valleys of COVID cases, additionally we can potentially see an increase in influenza cases since influenza cases has been at an all-time low in the past two years,” said Dr. Kevin D. Watkins, the county’s public health director.
Most cases this year have been blamed on the omicron variant’s BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants. Because the subvariants were able to circumvent the immunity from vaccines and boosters as well as natural immunity, there were an increasing number of re-infections over the past year.
The vaccine and boosters were able to keep many people from serious illness, hospitalization and death even if they did get the virus. Increasingly, people have also used at-home COVID test kits. Antiviral drugs are available that if taken within five days of the infection, can help relieve symptoms and protect from serious illness and death.
The health department has a clinic scheduled today at the Olean Campus of Jamestown Community College starting at 10 a.m. First doses and booster doses of the newly updated vaccines will be available. Walk-ins are welcome.
Another COVID-19 vaccination clinic is scheduled for Oct. 13 at the Randolph Municipal Building from 2 to 6 p.m., Oct. 20 at the Salamanca Health Department office from 2 to 6 p.m., Oct. 25 at the Little Valley American Legion from 2 to 6 p.m. and Oct. 27 at the Ellicottville Legion from 2 to 6 p.m.
To register, go online to the county’s website at www.cattco.org or call (716) 701-3777 for assistance. The booster shots are also available at local pharmacies and some physicians.
There have been 10,564 cases in the southeast part of the county since March 2020, 4,609 cases in the southwest, 4,499 in the northeast and 3,191 in the northwest. Women have accounted for 11,876 of the cases and men 10,987.
The county’s seven-day average positivity on Sept. 28 was 14.19%, down 0.21% over the previous seven-day period.
There were 111 cases in the seven days ending Sept. 29, down 0.89% and the county’s status is low community transmission, according to the Centers for Disease Control and prevention’s COVID-19 Data Tracker.
There were six new hospital admissions in the seven days ending Sept. 28, down 33% from the previous seven-day period.
