ERIE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH PROVIDES COVID-19 DATA UPDATE
FOR WEEK ENDING MAY 25, 2021 

ERIE COUNTY, NY – The Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH) is providing an update on COVID-19 data for the week ending May 22, 2021.

With 100 COVID-19 hospitalizations reported for May 23, 2021, hospitalized patients declined 52% since May 1. Information on Erie County COVID-19 hospitalizations is posted to ECDOH Twitter and Facebook pages daily.

For the week ending May 22, 2021, ECDOH received reports for 496 new COVID-19 cases. This is a 33% decrease from the previous week, and the lowest weekly case total since October 2020. The COVID-19 case rate fell from 80 cases per 100,000 residents in the past seven days for the week ending May 22, to 54 cases per 100,000 residents in the past seven days for last week. Using the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) thresholds for community COVID -19 transmission, Erie County remains at a “Substantial Transmission (Orange)” level. However, a case rate under 50 will place Erie County in a “Moderate Transmission (Yellow)” level.

Though 50% of new COVID-19 cases from last week reside in Buffalo city ZIP codes, the number of new cases has declined significantly. Only two Buffalo city ZIP codes had 15 or more new cases last week, and case rates in Buffalo city ZIP codes have decreased as well.

Erie County has experienced declines in weekly new COVID-19 cases and weekly percent positivity for six consecutive weeks. All age categories are below the seven-day COVID-19 case rate of 100 per 100,000 persons, and all age categories have a percent positivity of under 5%. Also, all age groups over age 50 had under 1% positivity for the week ending May 22.

ECDOH is reporting COVID-19 mortality data. ECDOH received reports of 13 more deaths associated with COVID-19 from May 14 to May 20, 2021. The total deaths from March 2020 to May 20, 2021 now stand at 1,876, with 600 reported in 2021. Of the 138 deaths reported during April and May 2021, only five individuals were fully vaccinated prior to COVID-19 infection. 45% of COVID-19-associated deaths in April and May resided in a Buffalo city ZIP code.

Additional data, including vaccination estimates, are posted to the ECDOH web site.