BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) – Officials in Erie County warned there will be shutdowns if the coronavirus rate locally continues to remain high.
"It's everywhere, folks," Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said of the virus that has infected at least 16,130 people and killed 736 people since March. "We're probably lucky we did not end up initially in the orange or red (cluster zone). There are some zip codes that potentially could have been. We know the transmission is everywhere and the problems are everywhere, so we're in the yellow right now and can avoid the orange or red."
The county executive said that people must think of the community at large more so than their individual concerns.
"We need to think about we, not me," he said. "Otherwise there will be some ugly shutdowns coming forth."
Poloncarz announced Thursday that there are 126 people who are hospitalized in Western New York, including 84 in Erie County. Of those in an Erie County hospital, 17 people are in intensive care. The county executive expects the hospital numbers to increase, noting that there have been three times as many positives cases as of November 7 than there was the previous month.
This week's total number of cases has already surpassed last week's total of 1,520 cases.
Among the most notable areas hit by the disease locally recently is Getzville, where the zip code 14226 had 75 new cases last week and a positive test rate of 11.4 percent. The Town of Elma, Evans, North Collins, Springville, and other rural areas are among the places that have had the most positive cases recently.
Poloncarz warned that the rest of Erie County is at risk of entering the yellow zone.
