BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) – As more of the nasal swab tests for coronavirus have become available in Erie County, the rate of people testing positive for the disease has decreased.
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said that the positive test rate was 12.1 percent for all of last week. In weeks prior, the percentage was substantially higher because of the region's limited testing capability. Currently, 18.7 percent of Erie County residents who have received a nasal swab has tested positive for COVID-19.
There are 4,484 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Erie County and 357 deaths. Nearly 27,000 diagnostic tests have been conducted on Erie County residents.
REOPENING WESTERN NEW YORK
Western New York, which includes the counties of Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and Allegany, has reached five of the seven metrics outlined by Governor Andrew Cuomo in order to reopen.
Poloncarz said that the county still lags behind in hospitalization declines over a three-day period and hospital deaths. However, the state has consistently released data to local governments. The last update of hospitalizations came on May 7, when Erie County reported 199 total hospitalizations. The latest figure shows a decline in the region's peak of 258 hospitalizations on April 27. However, there are multiple days that there were no updated reports on hospitalizations.
"We need to do what's right to keep these hospitalization numbers down," Poloncarz said. "We're continuing to push New York State for the daily hospitalization numbers...They receive them from the hospitals. They just had an issue with distributing them to the local communities. This doesn't totally surprise me. This was an issue that we were concerned about."
Erie County has met the testing requirements and other criteria to reopen as early as May 15. Poloncarz was very optimistic in the region's ability to reopen by June 1 and said the first phase of reopening could begin sometime between this Friday and the end of the month.
"If, after a week following May 15, it appeared we met the standard and the state approved it, yes, we could reopen around May 22 or May 23," Poloncarz said. "It all depends on the hospitalization numbers and what we can do to reduce them."
Manufacturing, construction, curbside retail, and some outdoors activities will be able to return as part of phase one. See the state's reopening guide here
