Western New York is giving itself a Christmas present, as the region's positive testing rate for Covid-19 drops to its lowest level since Thanksgiving Day.
According to new data released by the state on Friday, the seven-day rolling average for the five-county Western New York region dropped to 6.01% on Thursday – on the verge of falling into the 5% range for the first time in a month.
That's down from 6.33% on Wednesday and 6.39% on Tuesday.
It's still higher than the statewide average of 5.53%. But it's less than every other region of the state except New York City – the original hotbed from the spring – and the Southern Tier.
The region has 488 Covid patients in hospitals, but 32% of hospital beds are still available – higher than the statewide average of 30%.
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And while 312 intensive-care beds are occupied by patients with either Covid or other conditions, that still leaves 42% of the total ICU beds open – far better than the 30% statewide average. Only the sparsely populated North Country – which has only 51 ICU beds to begin with – is more prepared.
"New York made it through Thanksgiving better than most places, so as we celebrate Christmas today it's critical we retain that momentum and remember that celebrating smart stops shutdowns," Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said in his daily bulletin for the 300th day of the pandemic. "This has undoubtedly been a trying year, but if we work together and stay United as one New York Family, we will win this war once and for all."
However, 122 patients died across New York on Thursday, led by Erie County's 14 and Monroe County's 13, showing that the Buffalo and Rochester areas are still suffering the after-effects from the coronavirus' spread in the last few weeks. The death toll overall in New York is 29,270 since the start of the crisis.
Cuomo urged New Yorkers to stay vigilant and not to assume that the arrival of two and potentially more vaccines doesn't mean the worst is over.
"While the vaccine is now here, we are still months away from widespread vaccination and finally reaching that light at the end of the tunnel," the governor said. "We are in a footrace between distributing the vaccine and slowing the spread. While the state is doing everything it can to get people vaccinated, it's on the rest of us to stay tough and keep practicing safe behaviors in the meantime."
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Statewide, Cuomo reported that 6,950 people in 55 counties are hospitalized with Covid-19, up 22 from the previous day.
Of those, 1,148 are in intensive-care, with 621 on oxygen.
Thursday's test results yielded 12,446 positive cases, or 5.49% of more than 226,560 tests that were conducted. That included 656 new positive cases in Erie County, 172 in Niagara County, 113 in Chautauqua County and 61 and 31 in Cattaraugus and Allegany counties, respectively.
Separately, Cuomo also praised the federal government's decision and announcement late Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that airline travelers from the United Kingdom must have a negative Covid-19 test result within three days of their flight before they can board the plane. The announcement, which reversed an earlier policy, comes in response to the discovery of a new variant of the novel coronavirus in the U.K. that could be 70% more transmissible.
Other nations had already banned travelers from the U.K. or imposed testing requirements, and Cuomo had called on the Trump administration to do the same. The state had persuaded British Airways, Delta Airlines and Virgin Atlantic to voluntarily test their passengers prior to departure, but has limited authority over international flights.
"But testing travelers flying to just one out of 50 states was clearly not enough," Cuomo said. "Testing people for Covid-19 before they get on planes is common sense. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past, and we must continue to do everything we can to keep New Yorkers and Americans safe."
