December deaths due to Covid-19 amounted to more than a dozen lives lost a day in Erie County. And the new year is not starting off with any better news.
Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz reported Thursday that for Wednesday, the county had its highest single-day total for new, confirmed cases – 852. In addition, based on county death data tracked by The Buffalo News, nearly 100 more residents have been reported dead from the virus in a little over a week.
"We are going in the wrong direction," Poloncarz said. "I was trying to advocate to the state to take us out of the orange zone and move us into the yellow zone for the vast majority of Erie County. As the governor has noted, if our numbers are going up, and our hospital rates are going up, that's not going to happen."
The county executive attributed the new positive cases to continued fallout from holiday season gatherings, including viral spread at smaller gatherings, and from people traveling.
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The total number of deaths for December has now risen to 385, the worst month for county deaths – by far – since the local health crisis began in March, he said at Thursday's press briefing. Previously, the worst month was April, with 286 deaths.
For three years in a row, the number of drug fatalities fell. Now that trend line has been wrecked by the Covid-19 health crisis.
Last month's final death toll figure might still grow, because county death reports can lag for days.
Meanwhile, 32 deaths have been confirmed so far for the first five days of January, including one person under the age of 40, Poloncarz said. Most deaths were of people over age 70.
"I've had a lot of people reach out to me over the last few months, saying, 'You know, I really didn't think Covid was much of anything, and now I've lost a family member,' or 'I know two people who died, and yeah, I'm taking it a lot more seriously than I was,'" Poloncarz said. "It's sad."
The total number of deaths in Erie County stands at 1,297.
Reducing death numbers requires reducing infection levels, Poloncarz said. But instead, case numbers are climbing. The seven-day average positive test rate for Erie County was 7.5% as of Wednesday, based on county Health Department data.
Health inspectors will be on the lookout Saturday to make sure restaurants are following the state's Covid-19 regulations during the Bills playoff game.
The testing of thousands of Buffalo Bills fans planning to attend Saturday's playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts is also expected to drive up the county Covid-19 case numbers.
Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein reminded residents not to gather with people outside their household to watch the playoff game so that they can mitigate the spread of the virus.
The silver lining amid Thursday's otherwise dismal data is that hospitalization levels remain fairly stable, though that could change if the higher numbers of people infected translate into more hospital admissions.
Hospital capacity levels are the single biggest factor in determining whether a region must shut down all non-essential businesses.
