BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - The positive test rate for coronavirus in Erie County's yellow-zone was 7.47 percent on Monday, according to the governor's office, who released the latest statistics on Tuesday afternoon.
Most of Erie County was given micro-cluster status on Monday, which is a warning stage that calls for increased testing at schools and some restrictions for places like restaurants. No organizations close under the yellow-zone status but could if given orange or red status.
Western New York, which includes Niagara, Allegany, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, and all of Erie County, had a positive test rate of 5.7 percent on Monday. That figure is the highest in New York State, tying the number for Central New York. Erie County had 390 new cases of COVID-19 reported Monday. Niagara County had 75 new cases. Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Chautauqua County combined had 38 new cases of the virus.
Of the 32 people who died from coronavirus in the state on Monday, 11 were from Western New York.
"While New York's COVID positivity remains the third-lowest in the nation, we continue to see increases in both new positive cases and hospital admissions, demonstrating we are not immune to the surge we are seeing throughout the rest of the nation," Governor Cuomo said in a statement. "While we may be tired of COVID, it is not tired of us. It's clear that COVID fatigue and a lack of compliance leads to viral spread, so it's more important than ever that as we prepare for winter, each of us stays smart and New York Tough by taking simple everyday actions like washing hands, wearing masks and socially distancing. Likewise, local governments need to be vigilant and actively enforce public health law throughout the state."
The City of Buffalo and Erie County could reach orange zone status if the seven-day rolling average for a geographic area is above three percent for ten days and have ten more cases per 100,000 residents in an area. A red zone would follow a similar criteria, though the rolling average metric must be above four percent for ten days.
