Less than 40% of the eligible population in Chautauqua County is not vaccinated against COVID-19 yet they account for nearly 70% of those hospitalized with the virus, the county Health Department said.

“I’m very concerned that as people gather for the holidays, especially indoors, we’re going to see an even bigger surge in cases, hospitalizations and deaths than we’re seeing after the Thanksgiving holiday,” said Christine Schuyler, county public health director.

Just over 79,000 people in the county over the age of 5 — representing those eligible to be vaccinated — have received at least one dose of the vaccine while about 70,500 have been fully vaccinated, a rate of about 58%.

On Wednesday, the health department released COVID information for the week ending Dec. 18. The number of people with COVID in local hospitals remained at 41, while virus-related deaths hit 13 — or almost two every day for the last seven days.

The county recorded 689 new cases of COVID-19. As of Dec. 18, there were 602 active cases and 982 people in quarantine.

To date there have been 17,884 confirmed cases, 17,025 recoveries and 257 virus-related deaths.

In a news release, the county Health Department reiterated the importance of getting the vaccine and a booster shot; wearing a face mask; washing hands frequently; and staying home when sick.

Lack of movement on the local hospitalization rate comes as nearly all staffed acute care beds in area hospitals were reported to be occupied as of Sunday, according to information provided by hospitals to the state Health Department.

UPMC Chautauqua had all 82 of its staffed acute care beds occupied through Sunday, with 27 of those patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Brooks-TLC in Dunkirk had 32 of its 35 staffed acute care beds full, with 13 of its patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Westfield Memorial Hospital had four of its six beds full, with one of those four beds being a patient hospitalized with COVID-19.

In Cattaraugus County, there have been 11,395 confirmed cases of COVID as of Tuesday as well as 10,804 recoveries and 205 virus death. There were 375 active cases, 34 people in the hospital and 400 in quarantine.

MASKS AVAILABLE

The county said it has secured cloth face masks that will be allocated to houses of worship to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 among its congregations during the holiday season.

The effort to get the masks out to houses of worship was the result of recent discussions between County Executive PJ Wendel, County Legislator Terry Niebel, Schuyler and Office of Emergency Services director Noel Guttman.

“I thank Legislator Niebel for suggesting this program,” Wendel said. “Our goal is to make masks available in areas that are easily accessible to the public, and houses of worship are one of the best places to reach a majority of our residents, especially during the holiday season. We here at Chautauqua County still encourage all residents to mask while in public. We hope that if the county provides masks to our places of worship it will make it more convenient for their parishioners to wear a mask. If we all come together and everyone does their part, we can help protect our communities and overcome this horrible virus.”

The county will arrange for pickup or delivery of the free masks for any place of worship in the county. Masks will be available on a first-come, first-served basis until they are gone.

For more information or to schedule a pickup or delivery, call 716-753-4211.