The percentage of Covid-19 test results coming back positive for the virus in Western New York inched back up to 1.5%, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Wednesday.
"That's not good," Cuomo said. "But we have been taking a lot of actions in Western New York and I think people got the message. And we still have a caution flag, but the number's not increasing and that's good news."
The region's positive test rate was not the highest in the state Tuesday. Long Island's rate was 1.8%, but state officials attributed that to an increase in cases at SUNY Oneonta. Students at the university who tested positive, who listed their home addresses on Long Island, were counted in that region's totals, said Melissa DeRosa, secretary to the governor.
Western New York's seven-day rolling average for its rate of positive tests was 1.6% as of Wednesday. For purposes of Covid-19 tracking, Western New York consists of Erie, Niagara, Allegany, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties.
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A day earlier, Cuomo had said Monday's test results showed Western New York's rate had dipped to 1%. Monday's test rate marked just the third time in 19 days the region didn't have the highest rate in the state.
Statewide, the percentage of tests coming back positive for Covid-19 has been under 1% for more than a month.
Cuomo said there is no "hard formula" being used to determine when economic activity would have to be scaled back based on Covid-19 spread. The infection rate would not be "'as relevant" if officials could determine a specific cause for spread in a certain area. It would be more concerning if an increase in cases was attributed to "random community spread."
State officials will continue to track the data on a daily basis and act if there are causes for concern, Cuomo said.
"What's not manageable?" he said. "You start to hit two, you start to go towards three, that's when the bells start to go off. So you watch it and you monitor it and you start to get over two, you hit the pause button."
Three people, including one in Erie County, died Tuesday due to Covid-19, bringing the state's total for the pandemic to 25,370 deaths, according to the governor's office.
Cuomo also announced restaurants in New York City will be allowed to have indoor dining up to 25% capacity starting Sept. 30.
Maki Becker
