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53 Tests In County Come Back Negative

Community mitigation strategies to halt the spread of the coronavirus in Chautauqua County appear to be working. That was the message Thursday by Christine Schuyler, county director of health and human services, who noted no new cases of COVID-19.

There remain three confirmed cases of the virus in the county: a Panama resident who recently traveled to New York City; a Dunkirk woman in her 30s who recently visited Buffalo; and a Silver Creek man, also in his 30s, who visited Buffalo. None of the cases have required hospitalization

“There were no new positive tests reported today,” Schuyler said in the county’s daily update.

“Although we cannot be aware of the exact number of tests awaiting results because tests are being performed at a variety of sites, we are able to report that, to date, we have received 53 negative lab reports. The large number of negative results is a positive sign that community mitigation strategies are working. Your efforts are paying off. Keep practicing social distancing and everyday precautions to decrease the spread of illness.”

As of Thursday, 11 people were in mandatory quarantine (those who have tested positive for the virus or have had household contact with someone who has tested positive); 25 people were in precautionary quarantine (those who have traveled to a CDC level 3 country or have had proximal contact with someone having a confirmed case); and 46 people were in mandatory isolation (someone showing signs of the virus and have tests pending).

Statewide, though, coronavirus deaths and hospitalizations were both up dramatically, a stark sign of the outbreak’s quickly increasing reach.

New York state’s death toll from the coronavirus jumped by 100 in one day, pushing the number to 385, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday. He added that experts expect the number to increase as critically ill patients who have been on ventilators for several days succumb to the virus.

“That is a situation where people just deteriorate over time,” Cuomo said. “And that is what we’re seeing.”

There are now more than 37,000 confirmed cases in the state. The figure does not represent all COVID-19 cases, since an unknown number of infected people have not been tested.

More than 5,300 COVID-19 patients were hospitalized statewide as of Thursday, a 40% increase from the day before. Nearly 1,300 patients were in intensive care, a 45% increase.

Hospitals in hard-hit New York City are trying to deal with the growing crush of patients and the need for medical equipment like face masks and ventilators.

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