OLEEN — Anxiety over COVID-19 appears to be on the decline in 2022 as Cattaraugus County survives the third year of the pandemic, Public Health Director Kevin D. Watkins said Thursday.
As the end of 2022 approaches, there have been a total of 24,218 COVID-19 cases in the county since the first case in March 2020, just over half of them in the last year. He had the most cases in January, with 4,738 cases and 21 deaths.
Other months in 2022 are: February, 1,138. March 410. April 742. May 1,435. June 492. July 437. August 802. September 848. October 684. November, 312 and 309 to December 27th.
Here are the COVID-19 deaths by month: January 21st. February 6th; March 4th; April, none. 2nd May; 2nd June; 3rd July; 5th August; 8th September; 3rd October. November 7th. So far in December he has had three deaths.
The southeastern part of the county has 46.2% of all cases in the county so far, for a total of 11,156 cases. Of the total, 5,500 were recorded in 2022.
Other sections of the county are:
Southwest — 4,901 or 20.3% total. 2,565 this year.
Northeast — 4,703 or 19.5% total. 2,493 this year.
Northwest — 3,407 or 14.1% total. 1,771 people this year.
Nearly three years after the first COVID-19 death in April 2020, 284 county residents have died of COVID-19 — including 64 in 2022.
“We continue to see positive cases in the community,” Watkins said in a telephone interview with the Times-Herald. was reported.
“The slight increase in cases during this time is something we’ve never seen before,” Watkins said. “Family gatherings during the holidays allow us to let our guard down. Some of us who don’t know we have the virus spread it.”
As of Wednesday, General Oleann has 11 COVID-19 cases, including one who was intubated in the intensive care unit, Watkins said.
Watkins said part of the increase was due to cases that began on Thanksgiving.
A future sign may be reports from other states about rising cases, he said. “We are he one of the last counties affected.”
A new Omicron variant has surfaced in New Jersey and may reach western New York, according to Watkins, similar to cases from China, which recently eased its strict COVID-19 quarantine measures. We must remain vigilant.
He reminded the public that people who have been vaccinated or infected with COVID-19 and who have antibodies to them are likely to have lower rates of illness and hospitalization.
Watkins said public anxiety in the past year has been lower than in the first two years of the pandemic, as there are tools to protect people and limit its spread, such as vaccines, boosters, monoclonal antibodies and antiviral drugs. said there is.
“They have helped us ease restrictions,” Watkins said the health department will continue to test for COVID-19, conduct vaccination clinics and monitor coronavirus clusters. .
The health department will join state health departments next month to finish daily reporting on COVID-19 cases and deaths.
