Erie County moves to ‘medium’ COVID-19 Community Levels category

BUFFALO, N.Y. — On Wednesday, the Erie County Department of Health shared that a recent increase in COVID-19 cases has pushed the county into the “medium” category for the CDC’s COVID-19 Community Levels.

The county dropped to the “low” category in early March, which prompted Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz to end the County’s State of Emergency. 

ECDOH reports there have been 219 new cases per 100,000 residents over the past seven days as of April 12. A case rate at over 200 per 100,000 people puts the county in the medium category. 

Additionally, ECDOH reports there were 443 new cases on April 12, and a total of 2,090 cases for the past seven days.

People living in communities in the CDC’s “medium” category are encouraged to practice individual- and household-level prevention behaviors, including:

• If you are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe disease, talk to your health care provider about whether you need to wear a mask and take other precautions (e.g., testing).
• If you have household or social contact with someone at high risk for severe disease, consider self-testing to detect infection before contact or consider wearing a mask when indoors with them.
• Stay up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters.
• Maintain improved ventilation throughout indoor spaces when possible.
• Follow CDC recommendations for isolation and quarantine, including getting tested if you are exposed to COVID-19 or have symptoms of COVID-19.
• If you are immunocompromised or at high risk for severe disease, have a plan for rapid testing if needed (e.g., having home tests or access to testing) and talk to your health care provider about whether you are a candidate for treatments like oral antivirals, PrEP, and monoclonal antibodies.