ERIE COUNTY, N.Y. (WBEN) - In his press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and health officials cited five locations that confirmed coronavirus cases visited around the time they had the illness.
The day before, county officials highlighted seven locations including Walden Galleria and two local grocery stores that were visited by a coronavirus patient. The Buffalo Sabres announced that an individual with coronavirus attended a game on March 5.
Despite multiple confirmed cases of coronavirus in Erie County, officials assume that there are many more cases that have simply not been confirmed yet.
We asked county officials if it is reasonable, then, to assume that all establishments in Erie County have come in contact with coronavirus.
"Yes, it is reasonable," Poloncarz said. "We are assuming there are enough people in the community who have it who have not been tested yet. It's being spread."
Confirmed cases so far include Buffalo, Grand Island, Amherst, Orchard Park, Amherst, Elma, and the Village of Williamsville.
"Just because your town hasn't been announced doesn't mean it's not in your town," Poloncarz said. "...We are expecting every county and every town, when it's all said and done, to have had cases. That's why it's best to stay away if at all possible."
Currently, Erie County has the capacity to conduct about 450 tests and are nearing that limit. There have been 86 residents from Erie County tested for coronavirus but hundreds more cases pending as of Tuesday afternoon.
Poloncarz said the county has a request to get additional tests and they have contacted the manufacturer of the test kits, but said the demand across the country is so high that they're not sure when they'll get more tests.
"The governor is aware of that," Poloncarz said. "This is an issue we're dealing with."
Poloncarz said that anyone who is recommended by their doctor to be tested for coronavirus and are showing the symptoms will not be turned away. However, he said they may not be tested that day.
"If they called three days ago, they may have just had a fever," Poloncarz said. "(If they) did not travel overseas and did not come in contact with someone who is a known positive, they would have been a low risk. Now we've changed the criteria. If they talked three days ago with someone in the public health lab, they may have gotten an answer that you are a low risk...but we have changed the criteria through the examination that we have seen including a known example of community spread. If you meet the protocols, you will be tested under the (condition) that we have the ability to the test."
Health officials said they are continuing to utilize every resource to get more testing. A spokesperson from Roswell Park said they are on track to initiate lab testing this week.
