BREAKING – EXCLUSIVE: COVID-19 cases in Allegany County, NY, not only reversed last week from lower levels but soared by 51 percent.
The numbers come from the Allegany County Department of Health, as of yesterday, in response to our Allegany Hope Community News daily Freedom of Information requests for localized data.
The Wellsville area, as we first noted Friday, continued to account for one-half of all the increases, with the zip code jumping from 37 to 74 of the new positives.
The week before it accounted for 19 out of 49 total cases, or 38.8 percent, a continuing high percentage for the overall county which had plunged from a high of 114 for the week ended October 1, the peak for the late summer surge.
The next highest totals for the week were five in Friendship, up from three for the previous seven-day period, and four in Cuba, down from seven for the previous week.
Scattered numbers were recorded throughout the rest of the county, as is shown on our exclusive chart for the past two-week period, which accompanies this story.
No weekend hospitalization numbers have been provided yet by the State Health Department.
The actual number of positive cases is unknown due to the use of home test kits, although Allegany County does capture some of the information through an online self-reporting webpage.
The county is continuing to request that those testing positive through self or home tests enter the information at https://bit.ly/3zymEWF to aid in better determination as to the number of actual cases in the county and their general locations.
County health officials, along with those statewide, are encouraging bivalent booster shots which are specifically targeting BA.4 and BA.5 COVID variants that have been the predominant strains for several months.
They also are strongly suggesting flu shots as soon as possible due to that season appearing to have started early, with suggestions that infections may be at higher levels this year.
Public clinics have been set up through the middle of November in various parts of the county, with further information, schedules and required registration at https://bit.ly/3SQiYYU or (585) 268-9250. They also appear on the Allegany Hope Community Calendar at https://bit.ly/3yYyVUt.
Various online COVID-19 Trackers, information from which may not agree with each other due to different reporting time frames, are available at:
– Allegany County Daily Cases – Under COVID-19 Updates: https://bit.ly/3ndrbZJ.
– New York State Department of Health COVID Tracker: https://on.ny.gov/31K0u7f.
– CDC Counties COVID Tracker: https://bit.ly/3GrWqHx.
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Public health and effective crisis management response, along with open government practices, are among several current focuses of Allegany Hope as we pursue efforts for Building Healthy Communities Through Health FamiliesTM.
We are seeking volunteer Ambassadors for various areas of need which you, yourself, may have identified and have a passion for as they relate to greater community awareness, education and action that leads to positive impact.
Learn more at https://bit.ly/3IHm3FY or by contacting us at AlleganyHopeWNY@outlook.com or (484) 435-0503.