In WNY, Finger Lakes hospitalizations from Covid have quadrupled since Nov. 1
The number of people hospitalized from Covid-19 has more than quadrupled in both the Finger Lakes Region (which includes Orleans County) and the Western New York Region since Nov. 1.
On Nov. 1 there were 92 hospitalized from Covid in the Finger Lakes and that increased to 371 on Nov. 28. In Western New York, the number hospitalized from Covid went from 90 on Nov. 1 to 386 on Nov. 28.
That is a greater increase than state-wide, which has seen hospitalizations triple from 1,151 on Nov. 1 to 3,372 reported today by Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Office.
The state was at a low point in hospitalizations from Covid with 410 on Sept. 5. It crossed 1,000 for the first time in the fall surge with 1,023 on Oct. 22.
That is still way down from the Covid peak of 18,825 Covid hospitalizations on April 12. State-wide the hospitalizations from Covid was at 10,350 on May 1, 3,121 on June 1, and 878 on July 1. The hospitalizations have been rising fast this month from the 1,151 on Nov. 1, to 2,124 on Nov. 16, and then passing 3,000 on Nov. 25 with 3,056.
Western New York has the highest rate of positive Covid tests among the regions of the state. Orleans County is in the Finger Lakes Region, which has the second highest average the past 7 days.
Genesee and Orleans Health Department haven’t updated the local stats since Wednesday. They said they will provide new numbers of cases and hospitalizations on Monday.
Gov. Cuomo has been providing daily updates, even on Thanksgiving. Here are the state-wide numbers the past four days:
- Today: Of the 157,320 tests reported on Saturday, 6,723 were positive (4.27% of total). Total hospitalizations are at 3,372. There were 55 Covid fatalities on Saturday.
- Saturday: Of the 152,355 tests reported on Friday, 6,063 were positive (3.98% of total). Total hospitalizations were at 3,287. There were 42 Covid fatalities on Friday.
- Friday: Of the 219,442 tests reported on Thursday, 8,176 were positive (3.72% of total). The 219,442 tests was a new record for most tests in one day. Total hospitalizations were at 3,103. There were 39 Covid fatalities on Thursday.
- Thursday: Of the 217,721 tests reported on Wednesday, 6,933 were positive (3.18% of total). Total hospitalizations were at 3,056. There were 67 Covid fatalities on Wednesday.
“If you look at New York relative only to New York, you see the numbers going up — not as fast as in other states, but the numbers are going up,” Cuomo said today. “It’s nice that we’re doing better in a national and global context, but it’s irrelevant to one extent because we have to deal with the issues that we have here in New York relative to New York.”
He expects the numbers will continue to go up through the holiday season past Jan. 1.
“This is a new phase for Covid — call it the winter phase or the holiday phase or the surge upon surge phase — and we are spending this weekend talking to health officials and local governments about the plan for that next phase,” Cuomo said. “We’ll be speaking to that tomorrow and this week with more details. In the meantime, everyone needs to stay vigilant: wear your mask, wash your hands, maintain social distance, and above all stay New York Tough.”
Here are some of the recent testing rates for zone clusters in counties near Orleans.
