In the first update since last Friday afternoon, there are 36 new cases of Covid-19 to report today in Genesee and Orleans counties, which brings the total cases to 6,804 in the two counties since last March.

In Orleans County there are 11 new positive cases for a total of 2,448 positive cases during the pandemic. The new positive cases reside in the West Region (Yates, Ridgeway, Shelby), Central Region (Carlton, Gaines, Albion, Barre) and East Region (Kendall, Murray, Clarendon).

The individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 20s, 30s, 40s and 70s. One of the newly positive people was under mandatory quarantine prior to testing positive, the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments reported.

Orleans is reporting 13 more of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list.

There is currently one county resident hospitalized due to Covid.

In Genesee County there are 25 new positive cases for a total of 4,356 positive cases during the pandemic.

The new positive cases reside in the Central Region (Alexander, Batavia, Bethany, Elba, Oakfield) and East Region (Bergen, Byron, LeRoy, Pavilion, Stafford). The individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 90s.

Among the new cases 1 is a resident of the New York State Veterans’ Home at Batavia and 1 is an inmate at the Buffalo Federal Detention Center in Batavia.

Genesee is reporting 26 more of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list.

There are currently 4 individuals from Genesee hospitalized due to Covid.

Testing Clinic: Due to Tuesday’s vaccination clinic, there will not be a testing clinic this week in the two counties. The testing clinic link will be live when clinics are scheduled. This will be determined week-to-week.

Active cases drop in past week from 148 to 108 in 2 counties

There are 16 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 reported today in Genesee and Orleans counties, bringing the total to 6,768 since last March in the two counties, the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments said this afternoon.

In Orleans County there are 4 new positive cases reported today for a total of 2,437 cases in the pandemic. The new confirmed cases reside in the Central Region (Carlton, Gaines, Albion, Barre) and East Region (Kendall, Murray, Clarendon). The individuals are in their 20s, 30s and 60s.

Orleans is reporting 14 more of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list.

In Orleans, 2 of the current positive individuals are currently hospitalized.

In Genesee County there are 12 new positive cases reported today ,for a total of 4331 cases in the pandemic.

The new positive cases reside in the Central Region (Alexander, Batavia, Bethany, Elba, Oakfield) and East Region (Bergen, Byron, LeRoy, Pavilion, Stafford). The individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 20s, 30s, 40s, 60s, 70s and 80s.

Genesee is reporting 19 more of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list.

There are currently 3 Genesee residents hospitalized due to Covid.

Active Cases: The number of active cases in the two counties declined from 148 a week ago to 108. In Orleans County, the active cases is down from 53 to 34 in the past seven days while in Genesee the number of active cases dropped from 95 to 74 in the past week.

There weren’t any Covid-related deaths reported in the two counties in the past week, according to the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments.

Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming get about 25% of doses

BATAVIA – A mass vaccination clinic the next five days at Genesee Community College in Batavia was intended to help rural Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties catch up with their low Covid-19 vaccination rates.

The clinic was going to be exclusively for the three counties, but was changed by state officials to not include a residency restriction in those counties.

The local health departments have studied the registrations, which include the county of residence, and found only about 25 percent of the registrants are from one of the three counties.

“The purpose of our request (for the clinic) was to help increase our vaccination rate, and provide for our county residents who have been shorted throughout this pandemic,” said Paul Pettit, Public Health director for Genesee and Orleans counties. “This clinic assuredly did not significantly impact our rates. With only 864 of the 3,500 doses of vaccine remaining in our three counties, we are still well below the current state-wide vaccination rate. We will continue to seek additional allocations to bring parity for the counties’ vaccination rates.”

Erie County residents claimed 1,666 or 47.6 percent of the 3,500 spots. Niagara County residents took Niagara County 446 spots or 12.74% and Monroe County residents signed up for 326 spots or 9.31% of the total.

Among the three local rural counties Genesee County is filling 596 spots or 17.03%, with Orleans County taking 169 spots or 4.83% and Wyoming County getting 99 spots or 2.38%.

In addition, Livingston County is filling 73 spots or 2.09% and Ontario County residents claimed 45 spots or 1.29%. There were 15 other counties and out-of-state residents that each had less than 1%.

“After careful analysis of the registrations, what we expected to happen once we were told the clinic was open to anyone eligible, regardless of residency, did happen,” Pettit said.

The state website for registering for vaccines opened at 8 a.m. on Thursday and all 3,500 appointments were taken within 90 minutes for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is the one shot vaccine.

“For those in the Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming region who were able to register for this weekend’s state-run temporary mass clinic we understand how challenging it was,” Pettit said. “For those who live in our GOW region and were shut out of this clinic, we will continue to advocate for vaccine for our residents.”

Assemblyman Steve Hawley issued this statement:

“This statewide free-for-all for vaccines is leaving rural New Yorkers behind, and is causing people from all throughout the state to come to our community to use up the small allocation of vaccines our community desperately needs,” Hawley said. “We need to be smarter about ensuring vaccines given to a community stay in that community, rather than allowing a statewide scramble for shots which keeps doses out of the arms of those who need them most in rural areas.”

Orleans and Genesee counties are reporting 21 more confirmed cases of Covid-19 today for a total 6,752 in the two counties since a year ago.

In Orleans County there are 5 new positive cases of Covid reported today for a total of 2,433 during the pandemic.

The positive cases reside in the West Region (Yates, Ridgeway, Shelby), Central Region (Carlton, Gaines, Albion, Barre) and East Region (Kendall, Murray, Clarendon). The individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 20s and 50s.

Of the new cases, 3 were under mandatory quarantine prior to testing positive, the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments said.

Orleans is reporting 2 more of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list. There are currently 2 county residents hospitalized due to Covid.

In Genesee County there are 16 new Covid cases for a total of 4,319 during the pandemic.

The new positive cases reside in the West Region (Alabama, Darien, Pembroke), Central Region (Alexander, Batavia, Bethany, Elba, Oakfield) and East Region (Bergen, Byron, LeRoy, Pavilion, Stafford). The individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s.

Genesee is reporting 12 more of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list.

There are currently 4 Genesee residents hospitalized due to Covid.

Vaccine update:

By 9:20 this morning, all 3,500 spots taken

BATAVIA – The 3,500 vaccine appointments went quickly this morning once they were made available on the state website.

The state-run website for appointments opened at 7:59 a.m. for the clinic at GCC. By 9:20, there weren’t any appointments left. There were about a dozen clinics listed with appointments on the state website. They are listed alphabetically and Batavia was second from the top, just under a clinic in Albany.

The Batavia clinic runs five days from Friday through Tuesday. It was intended to help increase the vaccination rates in Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties, which are lagging behind the rates in the state and the Finger Lakes Region.

The state, however, opted not to restrict the appointments to residents of the three rural counties.

Paul Pettit, public health director in Genesee and Orleans counties, said some appointments could open up and he encouraged people to keep checking the state’s website. He said the rural counties will keep pushing for more vaccines.

“We realize this may be disappointing and frustrating for our local county residents as it is to us,” Pettit said about the appointments getting filled up so fast. “We will continue to advocate for increased vaccine allocations moving forward. Every dose of vaccine that comes to our counties are administered within the week of receipt. We will continue to call on the state to increase allocations to rural counties as our vaccination rates continue to lag in comparison to surrounding counties.”

BATAVIA – The mass vaccination clinic at Genesee Community College is targeted for Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties, but isn’t restricted to those counties.

The three rural counties wanted the clinic to be limited to the three counties, but the state Department of Health is making it available to whoever signs up.

The state has other vaccine clinics listed on its website that have residency restrictions for Albany, Brooklyn, Queens, Rochester and Buffalo.

Because the clinic in Batavia is open to people outside the three counties, local health officials are urging Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming residents to sign up right away this morning before all the appointments are gone. Click here to sign up.

The three counties lag behind the vaccination rates in the nine-county Finger Lakes Region and across the state. In the Finger Lakes the percentage of residents who have received at least one vaccine dose is 16.2 percent and 9.5 percent are fully vaccinated. The statewide averages are 15.6 percent with one dose and 8.4 percent fully vaccinated.

• In Orleans County, only 10.8 percent of the 40,612 residents have received at least one dose and 5.8 percent are fully vaccinated.

• In Genesee County, 14.7 percent of the 57,511 residents have received at least one dose and 8.7 percent are fully vaccinated.

• In Wyoming County, 13.2 percent of the 40,085 residents have had at least one dose and 8.0 percent have had both doses.

The neighboring metro areas in Erie and Monroe counties have higher vaccination rates.

• In Monroe County, 16.8 percent of the 742,474 residents have received at least the first dose of the vaccine and 9.9 percent have completed the vaccine series.

• In Erie County, 16.1 percent have received at least one dose and 9.7 percent are completed with the vaccine series, according to the data on the state’s Covid-19 vaccine tracker.

Site will administer 3,500 vaccines 5 days through Tuesday; Orleans residents urged to sign up

Press Release, Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments

BATAVIA – Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Department of Health have agreed to host a temporary regional mass vaccination clinic at Genesee Community College main campus center (1 College Rd, Batavia) to provide the Covid-19 vaccine to rural counties.

The announcement comes after the legislative leaders and public health directors of Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties sent a letter last week to the Governor urgently requesting the designation of such a clinic to serve rural populations in the region.

“Orleans County has received lower vaccine allocations throughout the pandemic which has resulted in substantially lower vaccination rates here compared to other regions of New York,” said Lynne Johnson, chairperson of the Orleans County Legislature. “I am pleased our request for a GCC site was well received and hope to work cooperatively with our local partners and the state moving forward to facilitate more mass vaccine clinics for rural residents who have been largely underserved during the crisis.”

This state-run clinic, expecting to vaccinate 3,500, is targeted to Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming County residents who are in the state eligible groupings. The state has confirmed, as of March 2, the vaccine will be the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) one dose vaccine. The clinic is located at the GCC Athletic Center where signs will guide those with appointments to the entrance. The clinic will be held starting:

• Friday, March 5, from noon – 4 p.m.
• Saturday and Sunday (March 6th and 7th) from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• Monday and Tuesday (March 8th and 9th) from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Appointments must be made via the New York State ‘Am-I-Eligible’ webpage (click here) or by calling the New York State Covid-19 Vaccination Hotline at 1-833-697-4829 only.

“We are pleased to be a part of this mass vaccination clinic,” stated Rebecca Ryan, Chairwoman of the Wyoming County Board of Supervisors. “This will help put a dent in our priority groups.”

“To say this Covid vaccination site is necessary is an understatement, as I speak with constituents daily who are told they have to travel hours in some cases just to get their vaccine,” said New York State Assemblyman Steve Hawley. “I am hopeful we will see progress made toward opening this site for the convenience of all who wish to receive the vaccination in the Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming County communities. We need to do all we can to stop the spread of Covid-19 throughout New York State.”

“I am very happy that GCC will be serving as a vaccination site for Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties. In the joint legislative health hearing this past Thursday, I specifically requested Commissioner Zucker establish a vaccination site at GCC,” said New York State Senator Edward Rath. “I am pleased that this all is happening very quickly, and we can work to get residents in our rural counties vaccinated. Thank you to our local leaders for their leadership on the issue.”

“We hope this is just the beginning of our region getting an equitable share of the vaccine,” stated Rochelle Stein, Chairperson of the Genesee County Legislature. “In order to continue to provide vaccine to those in rural counties, we encourage the state to continue to provide these limited mass vaccination clinics to assist our counties and get the vaccine in the arms of our residents who choose to get it.”

14 more cases at Detention Center for 105 total during pandemic

Orleans and Genesee counties combined are reporting 28 new confirmed Covid-19 cases today, bringing the total to 6,731 in the two counties since last March, the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments reported this afternoon.

In Orleans County there are 7 new cases for a total of 2,428 confirmed cases during the pandemic.

The positive cases reside in the West Region (Yates, Ridgeway, Shelby), Central Region (Carlton, Gaines, Albion, Barre) and East Region (Kendall, Murray, Clarendon). The individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 20s, 50s and 60s.

Among the new cases, 2 people were under mandatory quarantine prior to testing positive.

Orleans is reporting 3 more of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list. There is currently 1 county resident hospitalized due to Covid.

In Genesee County there are 21 new positive cases of Covid-19 for a total of 4,303 cases during the pandemic.

The new positive cases reside in the Central Region (Alexander, Batavia, Bethany, Elba, Oakfield) and East Region (Bergen, Byron, LeRoy, Pavilion, Stafford). The new cases include 14 inmates at the Buffalo Federal Detention Center in Batavia, where there have now been 105 confirmed cases during the pandemic.

Of the 21 cases reported in Genesee today, the individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 20s, 30s, 40s and 50s.

Genesee is reporting that 13 more of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list.

Genesee currently has 3 residents hospitalized due to Covid.

More from the Genesee & Orleans County Health Departments:

Travel Guidance Update: According to the Governor’s announcement today, those who travel domestically will no longer be required to quarantine or test-out within 90 days of full vaccination. International Travelers will continue to follow CDC quarantine guidance. Check for the updated guidance by clicking here.

Gathering Size: Beginning March 22 for residential gatherings 10 people indoors, and 25 people outdoors. For social gatherings, there can be up to 100 people indoors and 200 people outdoors. Click here for updated guidance.

Event, Arts, and Entertainment Venues: Beginning April 2, reopening at 33% capacity, up to 100 people indoors, 200 people outdoors. With attendee testing, capacity increases to 150 people indoors, 500 people outdoors. Rapid test is valid for 6 hours; PCR test is valid for 72 hours. Social distancing and face coverings are required by all attendees. Click here for updated guidance.

Press Release, Orleans County Mental Health Department

The Care & Crisis Helpline (585) 283-5200 serving Genesee, Orleans, and Wyoming counties is back in service after being down and non-operational on Tuesday.

In the case of a mental health crisis or if you are in need of additional information on your counties available mental health resources, please contact (585) 283-5200 or 911.

Orleans County will receive over 1,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine this week, which is significantly more than the county typically gets. Last week Orleans was able to administer 400 doses.

The county is getting 500 doses as part of its regular allotment with 300 to be administered by the Orleans County Health Department, 100 by the Tops pharmacy and 100 at Medina Memorial Hospital.

The county also will have an additional 585 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and will working with its partnering healthcare providers to administer those doses, Paul Pettit, the county’s public health director, advised local officials during a conference call this evening.

“That’s great news,” he said about the 585 doses on top of the weekly allotment.

In addition, the Health Department will be giving 200 shots of the second dose of the vaccine during its vaccine clinic Thursday at the Ridgeway Fire Hall.

Orleans also is expecting to hear confirmation soon from the state that the county will be teaming with Genesee and Wyoming health officials for a tri-county mass vaccination clinic at GCC in Batavia. Pettit said that clinic is in the planning stages.

“We are very hopeful this mass vaccination site will come to fruition and provide a much needed boost to Genesee, Orleans and Wyoming counties,” he said.

In Orleans, about 10 percent of the population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. That is down from a 15 percent rate across the state and in the Finger Lakes Region.

Press Release, Orleans County Department of Mental Health

ALBION – Effective immediately the 24-hour Care & Crisis Helpline serving Genesee, Orleans, and Wyoming counties is down and non-operational.

In the case of a mental health related crisis or for information on available mental health resources in your community, please contact the numbers below, utilizing the number associated with the county in which you reside or contact 911.

• Genesee & Orleans Counties (716) 285 –3515
• Wyoming County (716) 882-4357

Orleans and Genesee counties are reporting 19 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 today in the two counties, which brings the total to 6,703 during the pandemic since last March.

In Orleans County there are 4 new positive cases of Covid reported today for a total of 2,421 cases since last March, the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments reported this afternoon.

The new positive cases reside in the West Region (Yates, Ridgeway, Shelby), Central Region (Carlton, Gaines, Albion, Barre) and East Region (Kendall, Murray, Clarendon). The individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 40s and 50s.

Orleans is reporting 3 more of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list.

There are currently no residents from Orleans hospitalized due to Covid.

In Genesee County there 15 more confirmed cases of Covid-19 for a total of 4,282 positive cases during the pandemic.

The new positive cases reside in the West Region (Alabama, Darien, Pembroke), Central Region (Alexander, Batavia, Bethany, Elba, Oakfield) and East Region (Bergen, Byron, LeRoy, Pavilion, Stafford). The individuals are in the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. The new cases include 3 inmates at the Buffalo Federal Detention Center in Batavia.

Genesee is reporting 26 more of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list.

There are currently 3 residents form Genesee hospitalized due to Covid.

Covid-19 cases were down significantly in Orleans, Genesee and Wyoming counties, after surging from November through January.

The three counties had nearly 3,000 cases in both December and January. Last month there were 965 cases in the three counties, and that included 79 in the state prisons in Wyoming County.

The cases began a sharp upward trajectory in November with 1,133 cases in the three counties and reached 2,993 in December and 2,814 cases in January.

Genesee averaged 45.8 new cases a day in January. The county had 400 new cases in February or an average of 14.3 per a day. Genesee had 151 active cases on Feb. 1 and that was down to 82 on March 1.

Orleans dropped from an average of 25.4 cases a day in January to 9.0 per day in February. Orleans had 98 active cases on Feb. 1 and reported 36 active cases on march 1.

Wyoming County averaged 19.6 community cases daily in January and that was down to 8.3 per day in February or 11.1 per day if the cases in the prison are included. The number of actives cases dropped from 92 on Feb. 1 to 40 on March 1.

Here is a monthly breakdown of the Covid cases in the three counties:

Orleans County (population: 40,352)

First case reported on March 18.

• March – 6 cases (6 cumulative cases)
• April – 89 cases (95 cumulative)
• May – 126 cases (221 cumulative)
• June – 45 cases (266 cumulative)
• July – 10 cases (276 cumulative)
• August – 12 cases (288 cumulative)
• September – 29 cases (317 cumulative)
• October – 82 cases (399 cumulative)
• November – 224 cases (623 cumulative)
• December – 753 cases (1,376 cumulative)
• January – 788 cases (2,164 cumulative)
• February – 253 cases (2,417 cumulative)

Genesee County (population: 57,280)

First case reported on March 17.

• March – 13 cases (13 cumulative cases)
• April – 136 cases (149 cumulative)
• May – 37 cases (186 cumulative)
• June – 40 cases (224 cumulative)
• July – 32 cases (256 cumulative)
• August – 23 cases (279 cumulative)
• September – 30 cases (309 cumulative)
• October – 66 cases (375 cumulative)
• November – 579 cases (954 cumulative)
• December – 1,495 cases (2,449 cumulative)
• January – 1,419 cases (3,867 cumulative)
• February – 400 cases (4,267 cumulative)

Wyoming County (population: 40,085)

First case reported March 17.

• March – 8 cases (8 cases cumulative)
• April – 60 cases (68 cumulative)
• May – 12 cases (80 cumulative)
• June – 9 cases (89 cumulative)
• July – 18 cases (107 cumulative)
• August – 12 cases (120 cumulative)
• September – 12 cases (132 cumulative)
• October – 69 cases (201 cumulative)
• November – 330 cases (531 cumulative)
• December – 745 cases (1,276 cumulative)
• January – 607 cases (1,883 cumulative)
• February – 233 community cases (2,116 cumulative community). Wyoming also has had 486 cases in the prisons during the pandemic, including 79 in February.

Source: Orleans Hub research, local health departments, Census Bureau 2019 estimates for population

Orleans and Genesee counties are reporting 38 more cases of Covid-19 today in the first update since Friday. That puts the combined total to 6,684 for the two counties since March 2020.

In Orleans County there are 8 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 for a total of 2,417 positive cases since last March.

The positive cases reside in the West Region (Yates, Ridgeway, Shelby), Central Region (Carlton, Gaines, Albion, Barre) and East Region (Kendall, Murray, Clarendon). The individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 30s, 40s, 60s and 80s.

Of the new cases, 3 were under mandatory quarantine prior to testing positive, the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments said.

Orleans is reporting 25 of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list. There are now 36 active Covid cases in the county.

There is currently one Orleans County resident hospitalized due to Covid.

In Genesee County there 30 new confirmed cases of Covid-19 for a total of 4,267 positive cases since last March.

The new positive cases reside in the West Region (Alabama, Darien, Pembroke), Central Region (Alexander, Batavia, Bethany, Elba, Oakfield) and East Region (Bergen, Byron, LeRoy, Pavilion, Stafford). The individuals are in the age groups of 0-19, 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s.

Genesee is reporting 43 of the previous positive individuals have recovered and been removed from the isolation list. There are now 82 positive Covid cases in the county.

Of the new cases, 6 are inmates at the Buffalo Federal Detention Center in Batavia. There are 9 Genesee residents hospitalized due to Covid.

The G-O Health Departments said three positive residents of The New York State Veterans’ Home at Batavia were retracted because they were determined to be duplicates.

Testing is open to Orleans residents, too

The Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments said there are appointments available for people who want a rapid Covid-19 test on Tuesday.

The Health Departments are running a clinic from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Genesee County Emergency Management/Fire Training Center at 7690 State Street Rd., Batavia.

There are no residency requirements for the testing clinic, the Health Departments said.

People getting a test need to go online to register and to get an intake form. Click here for more information.