Gov. Cuomo expected to make announcement regarding rising COVID-19 cases

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — New coronavirus numbers from the Governor’s Office say western New York is close to crossing a dangerous threshold.

The outlook for Erie County is worse, with a 6.3 percent daily positivity rate. The positivity rate across all of western New York sits at 4.8 percent, and there are currently 118 people in the hospital being treated for COVID-19.

Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected to make an announcement regarding the increase in cases. Officials are warning another shut down could be on the way.

Between October 31 and November 6, Erie County saw more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases. The county is on track to becoming a “red zone” — that’s when the seven-day rolling average positivity rate is more than four percent for 10 days.

Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul says “We have a real problem. The problem is you can’t point to one place and say it’s there, we can beat this down. Once you have community spread, it’s a tremendous challenge, and that’s what we’re battling with right now.”