Modified: November 23, 2021 12:36pm
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ERIE COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH PROVIDES COVID-19 DATA UPDATE FOR WEEK ENDING NOVEMBER 13, 2021
10.3% of 5-11-year-olds in Erie County have at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine
ERIE COUNTY, NY – The Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH) is providing an update on COVID-19 data. For the week ending November 13, 2021, ECDOH received reports for 3,567 new COVID-19 cases among Erie County residents, a 37% increase from the previous week. From the week ending October 23, 2021 to the week ending November 13, 2021, COVID-19 cases have increased 105%. Erie County’s COVID-19 case rate of 374 cases per 100,000 residents in the past seven days for the week ending November 13 is an increase from the previous week’s case rate of 282. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) set a case rate threshold of 100 or more cases per 100,000 residents in the past seven days for a community to be considered to have “high transmission.”
33% of new COVID-19 cases last week were among city of Buffalo residents. For reference, city of Buffalo residents make up 29% of all Erie County residents. This past week the ZIP codes with the highest seven-day case rates per 100,000 persons were: 14111 (North Collins, 31 cases), 14141 (Springville, 50 cases), 14025 (Boston, 18 cases), 14032 (Clarence Center, 44 cases) and 14219 (Blasdell, 62 cases).
Contact tracing case investigations continue to note family and household clusters of COVID-19 cases. With the holiday season approaching, ECDOH encourages people who plan to gather with friends and family to stay home and away from others if ill. Also, COVID-19 testing is a tool to make sure you know your COVID-19 status before small gatherings, especially if other guests are elderly, have chronic medical or immunocompromising conditions, are pregnant, or unvaccinated.
About 45,000 COVID-19 test reports were received last week, a very slight decrease from the previous week’s total. ECDOH and health care providers within Erie County still have substantial diagnostic testing capacity. People who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, regardless of vaccination status, should strongly consider a diagnostic COVID-19 test. The New York State Department of Health maintains a list of testing locations. ECDOH created a list of community COVID-19 testing resources for parents and caregivers. Free COVID-19 NAAT tests are available through ECDOH by calling 716-858-2929 to schedule an appointment. Appointments are required for COVID-19 testing through ECDOH. Wait times for ECDOH appointment telephone line are longest in the morning. Callers may choose to call after 10 a.m. if they want to avoid a wait.
As with recent weeks, the 30-39-year-old age group had the highest number of COVID-19 cases. The age groups with the highest positivity rates were school-aged children: 11% for 5-10-year-olds; 13% for 11-13-year-olds; and, 10.6% for 14-17-year-olds. These higher positivity rates may reflect lower relative numbers of tests in these age groups, and a higher likelihood that symptomatic children and adolescents will seek a COVID-19 test for return to school purposes.
For children under age 18 years, case totals increased by 280 COVID-19 cases last week from the previous week, to 970 COVID-19 cases. The age group with the largest increase in COVID-19 cases was the 5-10-year-old age group, which increased 63% for the week with 454 COVID-19 cases, compared to 279 COVID-19 cases the previous week. School-aged COVID-19 cases increase 150% over the past four reporting weeks. And, cases among children under 18 years old have increased steadily as a proportion of countywide cases to 27.2% for last week.
The school team in the ECDOH Office of Epidemiology is managing a large volume of cases among k-12 students and school staff. Data for weeks ending November 6 and November 13 are incomplete* because official test reports are pending. The 721 COVID-19 cases in this group for the week ending November 6 represent the highest total of weekly COVID-19 cases, including for the 2020-2021 academic year.
With 199 COVID-19 hospitalizations reported in Erie County hospitals on November 14, 2021, the number of patients admitted to Erie County hospitals with COVID-19 has ranged from a low of 145 hospitalizations to a high of 199 hospitalizations over the past two weeks [See chart at end of release]. 120 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (60%) were not fully vaccinated. Among those patients 24 (59%) of 41 patients admitted to the ICU were not fully vaccinated; and, 15 (56%) of 27 patients with an airway assist were not fully vaccinated. Vaccines work to reduce the risk of serious illness and hospitalization. The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) publishes statewide data for COVID-19 cases over time by vaccination status, and daily hospital admissions over time by vaccination status.
ECDOH is reporting COVID-19 mortality data. ECDOH received reports of 18 COVID-19 associated deaths in the past seven days. Total COVID-19-related deaths from March 2020 to November 11, 2021 now stand at 2,123, with 847 reported in 2021. CDC publishes national rates of COVID-19 related cases, hospitalizations and deaths by vaccination status at https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#rates-by-vaccine-status.
With data compiled by the ECDOH epidemiology office through November 15, 2021, 60.7% of the 16-17-year-old age group has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine. 10.3% – or about 7,300 – of 5-11-year-olds in Erie County have received a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine to date. Additional data, including vaccination estimates by ZIP code, are posted to the ECDOH web site. NYSDOH also updates vaccination data by demographics, by county and by ZIP code.
ECDOH has an active schedule of COVID-19 vaccine clinics, listed at www.erie.gov/vax. Clinics for 5-11-year-olds are listed at www.erie.gov/vax. ECDOH will also vaccinate any eligible Erie County resident at their home. Call (716) 858-2929 for the “Vax Visit” program.
ECDOH encourages Erie County residents who are not fully vaccinated to begin their COVID-19 vaccine series. COVID-19 vaccination is especially important for youth and families attending school or child care. Third COVID-19 Pfizer or Moderna vaccine doses for people with moderately or severely immunocompromising conditions are available at any Erie County COVID-19 vaccine clinic.
ECDOH vaccine clinics will vaccinate provide a COVID-19 booster dose to anyone age 18 and older as long as enough time has elapsed from their initial series completion (6 months for Pfizer and Moderna; 2 months for J&J). We encourage people to review the recommended booster eligibility criteria, evaluate their risk factors and talk to their own physician with questions. NYSDOH has further information about booster doses.
Chart: Erie County Hospitalization Data, last two weeks (November 1, 2021-November 14, 2021)
Data for November 6, 2021 are not available.
Data Sources: New York State Department of Health and Erie County hospitals
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- ECDOH, COVID-19 vaccine info & clinic schedule: http://www.erie.gov/vax
- ECDOH, COVID-19 Information Line: (716) 858-2929 – foreign language interpretation available
- ECDOH, COVID-19 Weekly Data Updates: https://www2.erie.gov/health/index.php?q=covid-19-media-data
- New York State Department of Health, COVID-19 Boosters: http://ny.gov/boosters
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