By The Post-Journal

editorial@post-journal.com

No new cases of the coronavirus were reported Monday in Chautauqua or Cattaraugus counties, remaining at 24 and 26 respectively.

Locally, three Chautauqua County residents continue to recover from COVID-19 symptoms, with 18 people now reported to have fully recovered.

To date, 127 people in the county were either in quarantine or in isolation. Not all of those being monitored are confirmed to have the virus, but have either shown symptoms, are awaiting test results or have risk factors, the county Health Department said.

Of the tests administered locally, 427 have come back negative.

In their daily update, county health officials offered the following tip:

“Rainy quarantine days can help you plan your next grocery list/delivery. As the stay-at-home COVID-19 suggestions continue, the grocery delivery options expand. There may be a slight wait for delivery times, so, plan ahead. Look up a few recipes to make later in the week; make a list of items you need; and put your grocery order in now. Gone (at least for now) are the days of immediate grocery shopping gratification. Use your time to plan and adapt to the changes we are all facing.”

In Cattaraugus County, five people have recovered from COVID-19, while 69 people were in mandatory quarantine.

To date, 384 tests have been administered, with 356 coming back negative. Over the weekend, the number of confirmed cases in Cattaraugus County jumped by 11.

Meanwhile, New York’s coronavirus death toll topped 10,000 only about a month after the state recorded its first fatality, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday.

The state tallied 671 new deaths on Sunday. It was the first time in a week the daily toll dipped below 700. Still, the governor noted people are still dying at a “horrific level of pain and grief and sorrow.”

Hospitals are still getting 2,000 new patients a day, Cuomo said.

New York has now reported 10,056 deaths since early March, with more than half of them in the past week.

“This virus is very good at what it does. It is a killer,” Cuomo said during a state Capitol news briefing.

As a hopeful sign, Cuomo said the number of people hospitalized with the virus has flattened to just under 19,000.

State and New York City officials see plateauing hospitalizations as a hopeful sign for the coming weeks. The governor said the state’s tenuous progress will likely continue as long as people continue to follow stay-at-home restrictions.

“The worst can be over, and it is over unless we do something reckless,” Cuomo said. “And you can turn those numbers on two or three days of reckless behavior.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.