Better news for Western New York as colleges post fewer Covid cases

So did area colleges.

The University at Buffalo reported only seven new positive diagnoses among its students. The total of confirmed cases for the entire month at SUNY Buffalo State is 12. 

The region, which has had the highest daily positive test rate in the state for much of the last three weeks, had its lowest single-day rate over that same period for Monday's tests, according to data provided by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.  

Western New York was at 1% for its positive test rate, which reflects the percentage of tests that were positive for Covid-19.

"Better news for Western New York, we’ll see where they are tomorrow," said Cuomo during a briefing Tuesday morning in New York City.  

The governor did express a degree of caution because Monday was a holiday. Throughout the pandemic, testing totals are often lower and reporting of results are sometimes slower for weekend days and holidays.   

Western New York's daily positive test rate has not been as low as 1.0% since Aug. 19. Meanwhile, the statewide test rate has been under 1% every day for more than a month.

Monday's test rate marks just the third time in 19 days that Western New York did not have the highest rate in the state. The region, which includes Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus and Allegany counties, was behind Hudson Valley (1.5%), Long Island (1.5%) and the Capital Region (1.3%). 

In contrast, Western New York had daily rates of 2.0% Saturday and 1.9% Sunday, both times having the highest rate in the state by nearly a full percentage point (0.9% and 0.8%, respectively).

The region's seven-day rolling average remained 2% for the ninth straight day.

Western New York, according to the state, had 35 positives among 3,570 tests Monday. State data had county totals as: Erie 26, Niagara 5, Cattaraugus 3, Chautauqua 1, Allegany 0. 

Niagara County announced 21 cases on Monday, but that total included all holiday weekend totals; state totals are released daily. 

Hospitalizations in the region have ticked up slightly in recent weeks. According to state hospitalization data, Western New York had 33 people hospitalized due to Covid-19 on Monday, an increase of four from Sunday.

Monday's 29 hospitalizations marked the first time that total was below 30 since Aug. 27; total hospitalizations for the region was in the 20s for most of August.

The statewide positive test rate, which was 0.96% Monday, remained under 1% for the 32nd straight day. There were 557 new cases among the 57,826 tests reported Monday.

Cuomo said there were five coronavirus deaths in the state Monday. 

In other developments from the governor's briefing: 

* Four states were added to the state's travel quarantine list (Ohio, West Virginia, Maryland and Delaware) while Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands have been removed.

There are now 34 states on the list, which is a joint effort of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Visitors from states on the quarantine list, which is based on coronavirus metrics, are required to quarantine for two weeks upon arrival in New York State.  

* The governor said that K-12 school districts need to send information regarding testing and cases to the state, which will compile all the info at SchoolCOVIDReportCard.health.ny.gov. He said the Department of Health will be using information from schools, local health departments and labs on the site. 

* Cuomo warned about outbreaks on college campuses, mentioning the University at Buffalo and SUNY Fredonia among them. Cuomo said that colleges are required to notify the state when they have 100 Covid-19 cases, and "could" have to transition to remote learning.

* The governor continued to criticize Washington and President Trump for not as of yet providing aid to state and local governments.

"Donald Trump caused the Covid outbreak in New York," the governor said, repeating the line before he cited federal admissions that agencies did not forecast the virus' arrival in New York from Europe.