New York COVID-19 Deaths Are Increasing Fast and It’s Scary

According to New York State's COVID-19 numbers from August 17, 2021, which were released yesterday, August 18, 20 people have died from the deadly virus.  That's an increase of 16 people, since the beginning of the month. According to the COVID-19 data released by NY Governor Andrew Cuomo's office on Monday, August 1, there were 4 deaths from COVID-19, as reported on August 2.

On August 17, in Erie County, 131 people tested positive for COVID-19, out of a total of 4,737 for the entire state. On August 1, 37 people had tested positive for the virus in Erie County.

Here is a summary of the data for NY, released on August 18 by the Governor's Office, for August 17:

Test Results Reported - 72,514
Total Positive - 2,143
Percent Positive - 2.96%
7-Day Average Percent Positive - 2.53%
Patient Hospitalization - 788 (+50)
Patients Newly Admitted - 122
Patients in ICU - 162 (+10)
Patients in ICU with Intubation - 56 (+4)
Total Discharges - 186,983 (+88)
Deaths - 4

Looking at the data for the month of August alone, the number of deaths is increasing quickly and exponentially. Based on the numbers released yesterday, there have been 5 times the deaths from COVID-19 since the start of August.

Governor Cuomo is encouraging New Yorkers to get vaccinated,

"New Yorkers worked tirelessly to prevent the spread of the COVID virus in their communities and we cannot afford to take any steps backward. The vaccine has repeatedly been proven effective against the virus and with the ongoing spread of the Delta variant, it is crucial that you get vaccinated if you haven't already. It's free, it's available and it's effective."

If you haven't gotten vaccinated, call 1-833-NYS-4-VAX or visit vaccines.gov.

In Erie County, more people are getting vaccinated, according to Executive Mark Poloncarz,

Thank you to the 1,292 WNYers who received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from yesterday through 11 am today, and the 1,085 other residents who completed their vaccine regimen! By doing so, you are protecting yourself and your neighbors.

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

Saturday, August 21, 2021
New Hope Baptist Church (2090 Genesee St, Buffalo, NY 14211) from 12 pm to 7 pm.

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

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.