The West Seneca, Hamburg and Lancaster ZIP codes led Erie County in the number of new Covid-19 cases over the past week, County Executive Mark Poloncarz said Monday.
These communities, which led in raw numbers of new cases, also had among the highest Covid-19 rates when adjusted for population, according to county Department of Health figures.
The 14224 ZIP code, which covers West Seneca, had 236 new cases for the week ending Monday. Its number of new daily cases per 100,000 residents, based on a seven-day average, was 84.5, according to the county figures.
Hamburg's 14075 ZIP code had 233 new cases over the same time frame. It had a population-adjusted average rate of 79.4, according to the county figures.
The Lancaster ZIP code, 14086, had 203 new cases, while its population-adjusted rate was 91.1.
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"You want to find a way to keep it below 25," Poloncarz said of the population-adjusted rates.
The holiday season is expected to bring bad tidings when it comes to the rapid spread of Covid-19.
Rates of 25 to 50 indicate growth in Covid-19 cases, he said.
"When you're above 50, it's bad," he added. "When you're above 75, it's really bad."
Of all the county's ZIP codes, only one – Holland's 14080 – had a rate below 25, according to a summary of preliminary data for the week ending Nov. 28 released by the county health department Monday. The list did not include rates for ZIP codes with fewer than five total cases.
Poloncarz has repeated lately that Covid-19 is "everywhere" in the county.
In recent weeks, both Hamburg and Lancaster have each been atop the list of communities in the county seeing the most new cases.
Much of the increase seen in the region's second wave of Covid-19 has come from the suburbs and through small gatherings, state and county officials have said.
About 65% of new cases statewide are coming through spread in small gatherings, as opposed to public settings, Poloncarz said Monday. The state's numbers are "not too far" from what county officials have seen here, he added.
Poloncarz on Monday also announced that the county will be assisting some "small" school districts with Covid-19 testing, though the county executive declined to elaborate on what that help entails and who will be receiving it. He said districts would be notified by the health department in the next 24 hours.
The announcement came a few hours after Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said the state would be loosening testing requirements for schools in "orange zones" and "red zones."
Most of Erie County is in an "orange zone," while the easternmost and southernmost towns are in a "yellow zone."
Local school officials have said the state's existing testing requirements that must be met by schools in "orange zones" before they reopen were too difficult to achieve.
