BUFFALO, N.Y. — As New York State continues to battle the coronavirus pandemic, the state released data on Friday showing that nearly 100 people died from the virus across the state on Thursday.
In total, 94 people died including eight people locally. Locals who died from COVID-19 that day include one person in Cattaraugus County, two people in Chautauqua County, three people in Erie County, and two people in Niagara County.
Thus far, 38,891 people have died in New York State from the pandemic.
Western New York's regional rate of COVID-19 positive tests is currently lower than the state's average by over one percent. Western New York's seven-day rolling positivity rate for COVID-19 was 1.98 percent on Thursday, New York State's average was 3.16 percent.
The state's number of hospitalizations has dropped to its lowest number since December 8, at 5,034 people hospitalized for COVID-19. About a fifth, or 1,030 of those patients, are in intensive care units. Of the patients in the ICU, nearly three-quarters of those individuals are intubated, at 700 people.
There are currently 169 people hospitalized in Western New York. COVID-19 patients currently make up 0.01 percent of the region's population.