The Chautauqua County Department of Health on Thursday reported 21 new confirmed cases of COVID-19.

Since last Friday, 100 cases have been recorded in the county — and 140 since Aug. 1 — as local officials say the highly contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 is spreading through the community.

Of the new cases, from data collected Wednesday, six came from the Jamestown zip code; three each in Dunkirk, Lakewood and Westfield; two in Kennedy; and one each in Ashville, Cherry Creek, Falconer and Frewsburg.

“The Delta strain is very contagious and we have to just be a little more diligent of what we’re doing,” said Christine Schuyler, county public health director, during a news conference Wednesday in Mayville. “Vaccination is still your best tool to protect yourself. No vaccine is 100% effective, but what we do know is that vaccinated people are three times less likely than unvaccinated people to contract the Delta variant. That makes it much harder, obviously, to spread it to others.”

There are currently 97 active cases, an increase of four from the previous day; four people with the virus in the hospital, a decrease of one; 207 people in quarantine, a decrease of seven; and a seven-day positivity rate of 4.8%, which was unchanged.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention level of community transmission in Chautauqua County remains “substantial.”

See COVID, Page A6

According to the state’s online tracker, 64,751 residents in the county have to date received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, while 59,726 have completed their vaccination series.