The recent coronavirus metrics trend continues: Excellent marks for New York State, but not for Western New York.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo Saturday morning announced the state's lowest infection rate of the entire pandemic: 0.69%.
It is the 15th straight day that New York has been under 1% for its infection rate, which is the percentage of coronavirus tests which are positive.
Western New York, however, had the highest infection rate among the state's nine regions at 1.4%. All other regions were at 0.8% or lower.
This is the third time in four days that Western New York's rate has been the highest in the state, and each time it has been by a significant margin.
Erie County, meanwhile, had 49 positive coronavirus cases Friday, according to the state, which put it behind only New York City (267) and Long Island's Suffolk County (56).
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On Friday, Erie County reported 81 positive cases for Thursday, which was its highest one-day total since May.
Erie County's combined 130 cases from Thursday and Friday marks the county's highest two-day total since a combined 135 positive cases were reported on June 2-3, according to state data.
The state's all-time low infection rate resulted from 653 positive cases among 94,849 tests, or 0.69% of the total.
Western New York's rate has been twice that of the state's overall rate for the last two days.
Of Friday's total of 5,069 tests in Western New York, 72 were positive for a rate of 1.4%. The next-highest regional rate was the Mid-Hudson's of 0.9%
For Thursday, Western New York had the highest infection rate at 1.6%, with no other region above 1%. The state had an overall rate of 0.72%.
On Wednesday, Western New York was at 1%, with only the North Country higher at 1.2%.
On Tuesday, Western New York was the highest in the state at 1.4%; all other regions were below 1%.
For coronavirus metrics purposes, the state considers the Western New York region to be Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties.
Erie County drove most of Thursday's infection rate with 81 of Western New York's 96 cases.
On Friday, Erie County had 49 positive tests among 3,703 tests. That made for an infection rate of 1.3%, which equaled its seven-day rolling average for the previous week.
Other counties in the Western New York region saw increases Friday, according to state data.
Niagara County had 10 positive cases among 683 tests Friday for an infection rate of 1.5%, well over its 0.7% seven-day average prior to Friday.
Cattaraugus County had four cases Friday, its highest total since July 28. With at total of 145 tests, its positive test rate was 2.8%, a huge increase over what had been a seven-day average of 0.2% prior to Friday.
Chautauqua County had nine cases Friday, its highest daily number in more than a month since posting 12 on July 20. With 393 total tests, Chautauqua County's infection rate was 2.3%, more than tripling the 0.7% it had for a seven-day rolling average before Friday.
Allegany County had no positive cases Friday and has a seven-day rolling average of 0.4%.
Daily totals from the respective counties often differ slightly from the state's data due to discrepancies that can include tests administered in one county on individuals who are not from that county, or circumstances such as the timing and/or reporting of tests.
None of Western New York's counties had announced their own totals as of noon Saturday.
The state Saturday cited several other numbers which showed the continuing statewide decline of the coronavirus.
Coronavirus hospitalizations dropped by seven to 483, a new low since March 16, one of the earliest days of the pandemic. Intensive care patients dropped by three to 116, a new low since March 15. Intubations, which represent the number of patients being put on ventilators to help them breathe, was down two to 56, matching a previous low.
Friday's 653 additional cases of Covid-19 brings the statewide total to 429,165. New York, which led the nation in cases for months, was surpassed by California, Florida and Texas this summer. California has more than 660,000 cases while Florida and Texas have just under 600,000.
There were four coronavirus deaths in New York Friday, bringing the state's total to 25,282, the highest in the nation.
"This shows that protecting public health and reopening our economy aren't mutually exclusive if done the right way, and record-high testing doesn't equal more positive tests," Cuomo said in a press release. "New Yorkers have driven this recovery and I urge everyone to stay New York Tough – wear masks, socially distance and stay disciplined. This thing isn't over yet."
