Orleans, Genesee top 100,000 Covid tests in pandemic

Positivity rate much higher with last 50,000 tests, compared to first 50,000

Orleans and Genesee counties have passed 100,000 Covid-19 tests in the two counties during the pandemic.

The updated daily report from the Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments on Monday showed the two counties were at 101,307 Covid tests, with 3,419 of those coming back positive, for a positivity rate of 3.37 percent. (On Thursday, the last update before Monday, the two counties were at 98,908 tests.)

It took five months at the beginning of the pandemic to reach the first 50,000 tests in the two counties and about 2 ½ months to get the second 50,000 tests. That shows the testing availability has increased locally, especially with rapid testing clinics twice a week in Genesee and now weekly in Orleans.

The two counties passed 50,000 tests on Oct. 9. At that point there were 50,312 tests with 661 positives for a positivity rate of 1.31 percent.

In the next 50,995 tests, there were 2,758 positives for a positivity rate of 5.41 percent.

The two counties have a similar positivity rate since March.

• Genesee County: 66,684 Covid tests with 2,180 positives for a positivity rate of 3.27 percent.
• Orleans County: 34,623 Covid tests with 1,239 positives for a positivity rate of 3.58 percent.

The two counties have just under 100,000 people with 40,352 in Orleans County, and 57,280 in Genesee, according to the 2019 Census estimates. Some of those residents have been tested numerous times if they work in nursing homes, healthcare, hair salons and other businesses where the state requires frequent testing.