As positive steps go, Chautauqua County continues to put its best foot forward in the ongoing march to combat COVID-19.

As of Saturday, the county Health Department reported that slightly more than 12% of the eligible population had received their first of the two-dose COVID-19 vaccine.

That equates to about 12,600 residents over the age of 16. About 7.5%, or 7,855 people, have received both doses.

The county is updating the vaccination rates once a week from state Health Department information.

In addition, the department announced it is adopting the quarantine recommendations for fully vaccinated persons issued by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving their second dose of either of the approved COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer or Moderna. An individual who is considered fully vaccinated may be exempt from quarantine for up to 90 days.

Moving forward, most fully vaccinated persons who are showing no symptoms of COVID-19 are exempt from quarantine due to close contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 and travel quarantine requirements. The quarantine exemption includes fully vaccinated individuals who travel within the U.S. because travelers are required to quarantine out of caution that they may unknowingly be a close contact to someone with COVID-19.

According to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, more than 2.25 million people across New York state have received their first dose, with 1.18 million receiving their second dose.

“We know the vaccine is the weapon that will win the war against COVID, but there are three obstacles to getting every New Yorker vaccinated — supply, accessibility and hesitancy,” the governor said in his daily update. “Supply from the federal government is increasing steadily every week, but the demand still far outweighs the supply. We already have the infrastructure in place to administer shots as quickly as possible once we get them, and we are continuing to focus on vaccine equity by working with local leaders in our most vulnerable communities to educate more New Yorkers about the safety of the vaccine and encourage them to sign up for an appointment to get vaccinated. ”

Cuomo said about 10 million New York residents are currently eligible to receive the vaccine.

Positive steps taking place in Chautauqua County also can be found in COVID statistics released Tuesday morning. All the major categories — active virus cases, hospitalizations, those in quarantine and the seven-day positivity rate — dropped and continue to trend downward.

There were only 14 new cases recorded, with the most coming from Jamestown and Fredonia at two new cases each.

The number of virus-related fatalities remains at 136. Of those who have died with the virus to date, four were between the ages of 40 and 49; four between 50 and 59; 11 between 60 and 69; 29 between 70 and 79; 53 between 80 and 89; and 35 over the age of 90.

Elsewhere, Cattaraugus County health officials announced its 86th virus-related death involving a 60-year-old man who reportedly developed respiratory failure. “We extend our deepest condolences to his family and the entire Cattaraugus County community,” the county said in a statement.

The health department announced 19 new COVID cases on Monday, marking 4,250 to date in addition to 216 active cases, 21 people with the virus in the hospital and a seven-day positivity rate of 3.2%.

And in Warren County there were five new cases of COVID-19 and no new deaths, according to the latest numbers from the Pennsylvania Department of Health. The department’s COVID-19 dashboard on Tuesday indicated a total of 2,140 cases in the county so far. Of those, 1,747 are confirmed and 393 are probables.

There have been over 790,000 confirmed cases state-wide.

There were 96 COVID-related deaths in the report. That number has not changed since Thursday.