BREAKING – EXCLUSIVE: A fast drop in the number of new, known Allegany County, NY, COVID-19 cases may be reversing, particularly in the Wellsville area.
The Allegany County Department of Health, in response to Allegany Hope Community News daily Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) requests for localized data, reports 49 new cases last week, compared with 56 the week before and 114 for the week ended October 1 at the height of a recent surge.
Of the reported cases, 38.8 percent were in the Wellsville zip code, as of Saturday, which recorded 39.3 percent of the county’s total the preceding week.
There has been a major jump for the first two days of this week, however, with 25 positives, 15 yesterday, being entered, and 64 percent of them in the Wellsville area. There were two each in Almond and Friendship, with the remainder so far this week scattered in various other parts of the county.
Last week, the Wellsville zip code totaled 19 cases, compared with 22 the week before, with 16 already having appeared during the past two days.
Cuba tallied seven last week, compared with two the week before, with other areas of the county being three or less total.
Our exclusive two-week chart of COVID activity by zip code accompanies this story.
There was one COVID-19 patient at Jones Memorial Hospital in Wellsville Friday, according to the State Health Department, with none at Cuba Memorial Hospital Inc., two at St. James Hospital in Hornell and 10 at Olean General Hospital.
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.