Things are not looking good in Erie County when it comes to the community transmission of COVID-19. COVID-19 transmission in Erie County has moved from bad to worse. Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz provided an update on Twitter, saying that things are getting dire here in Erie County,

After a number of moths [sic] of being in the "low risk," then "moderate risk" and recently "substantial risk" categories, Erie County has returned to the CDC's "high risk" of community COVID-19 transmission category.

We have moved into the category the Centers for Disease Control considers high-risk. According to the Erie County Department of Health's recent tweet on Saturday, August 21, 2021,

A case rate of 100+ indicates "high" COVID-19 transmission per @CDCgov indicators.

The Erie County Department of Health reports that there have been 962 cases of COVID-19 here in the past week (as of August 20).

Poloncarz provided another update today, Sunday, August 22, via Twitter,

COVID-19 Hospital Report for August 20: Erie Co. hospitals had 98 COVID-19 patients (up 16), 18 of whom were in the ICU, 11 of those were on an airway assist, and 51% of all patients were aged 64 and under. Sadly, two more persons died.

According to Poloncarz recent update and information provided by New York Governor, Andrew Cuomo's office, Erie County deaths from COVID-19 on August 20 accounted for approximately 10% of the state's death toll. There were 18 deaths caused by the coronavirus in New York on August 20 (as reported on August 21).

The Western New York COVID-19 positivity rate increased from 3.28 percent on August 18 to 3.36 percent on August 20. Governor Cuomo acknowledged that the Delta variant of COVID-19 is causing problems for New York,

The Delta variant continues to be a very serious threat, and we know what COVID is capable of if we were to let it outmaneuver us. We simply cannot afford to risk all the progress we've made against this virus. Our frontline workers and everyday New Yorkers made great sacrifices to get us where we are today - and the best way to honor that is to get vaccinated. If you still need to get your shot, I urge you to do so quickly at one of our many sites across the state.

If you are interested in getting vaccinated, the Erie County Department of Health has several pop-up vaccination events coming up:

Friday, August 27, 2021
Freedom Friday event (MLK, Jr. Park near Fillmore and Parade, Buffalo, NY 14211) from 1:30 to 3:30 pm.

Saturday, August 28, 2021
Sadie Strong 5K Walk event (2 Nottingham Terrace, Buffalo, NY 14216) from 8 am to 12 pm

Sunday, August 29, 2021
Canalside (44 Prime St, Buffalo, NY 14202) from 11 am to 3 pm.

Saturday, September 4, 2021
Central Terminal (495 Paderewski Dr., Buffalo, NY 14212) from 10 am to 12:30 pm.  This vaccination pop-up is a part of the Second Annual Backpack Giveaway event hosted by Legislator Howard Johnson and Buffalo Councilmember Mitch Nowakowski.

You can also get a vaccine at home by calling (716)858-2929 or visiting http://erie.gov/vax, which is also where you can register for any of the pop-up events above.

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