The number of people in Chautauqua County hospitals who have tested positive for COVID-19 has more than doubled in the last week.

The county Health Department this week released its latest COVID statistics, noting that 50 people were hospitalized as of Tuesday. There were 23 people hospitalized in stats released last week.

At its height Jan. 13 of this year, there were 57 people with the virus in the hospital locally.

“Our county is approaching that peak this week,” the health department said in a news release.

From Nov. 14 to Nov. 20, the county recorded 663 new cases of the virus and four new deaths, along with 1,214 people in quarantine and a seven-day positivity rate of 9.1%.

“The Delta strain of the coronavirus is very contagious and is especially making those unvaccinated very, very ill,” said Christine Schuyler, county public health director. “I’m saddened and frustrated to see so many people struggling to breathe, hospitalized, going on ventilators, and many survivors left dealing with long-term health impacts. If you are not vaccinated, you are really taking a chance.”

In addition to hospitalizations, the county said it’s seeing the highest rates of infections among school-aged children to date.

As Sunday, 59.9% of the county’s total population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine; 53.9% were fully vaccinated. The rates are 68.1% and 62% for those 12 and older; 69.9% and 63.6% for those 18 and older; and 91.7% and 81.2% for those 65 and older, respectively.

Of the COVID-19 cases reported since Aug. 1, 56% have not been vaccinated, 22% have unknown vaccination status, 15% are fully vaccinated, and 7% are partially vaccinated.

The county Health Department and the county Board of Health strongly recommend vaccination and boosters for all of those eligible and recommend that everyone, regardless of vaccination status, wear a mask in indoor public settings, wash hands frequently, and stay home and away from others if ill.

To date there have been 14,890 confirmed cases of the virus in the county, 14,000 recoveries and 219 virus-related deaths.