Buffalo, NY (WBEN) - Once again, Governor Cuomo took time in his daily press conference to single out Western New York as a hot spot in the state.
For much of the past month, Cuomo has taken aim at Western New York for it's COVID testing numbers being slightly above the state average by several tenths of a percent.
"We've had an ongoing issue with Western New York," Cuomo said. "It's a general lack of compliance which is causing the issue."
But how much of an issue is there in the area? The percentage of tests that come back positive in the five county region generally stay steady at 1% to 1.5%. Can the number really go much lower?
"I would say not until we get good treatments or a vaccine," said Dr. Joseph Chow of WNY Immediate Care. "Again, it's not going to go down to zero. One-percent, 1.5%, sure we'd love to get lower. Sometimes we go below one percent, and other times we're in the mid-1% range. Certainly I'd want to say we should be happy with this."
Chow said there's still a need to be vigilant, but that would result in a continued low positive number, not necessarily a lower one than what we already have. You can hear the entire interview with Dr. Chow below:
