Covid-19 is not gone, but Burstein sees unexpectedly positive signs

In a briefing with the county Legislature Thursday, Dr. Gale Burstein said an anticipated spike in Covid-19 cases has not yet materialized. Reported cases in Erie County are lower than they were this time last year, and serious hospitalizations remain much lower than this same period last fall.

Covid-19 and other public health concerns remain on the radar, however.

The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases reported to Erie County do not include at-home testing, but Burstein said even trace measurements of Covid-19 in sewer water are showing nothing alarming. In fact, viral particles are trending downward in northern and central parts of the county, compared with earlier this year.

Patients hospitalized with Covid-19 have been trending upward since July, which is similar to the trendline last year, but roughly two thirds are admitted and hospitalized for non-Covid-19 related illnesses and only happen to also test positive for Covid-19. The number of seriously ill patients in local intensive care units for Covid-19-related illnesses has remained consistently low, oftentimes in the single digits.

That's a sharp departure from late summer and fall of last year, when ICU cases were much higher.

"We haven't really seen that this year, so that's good," Burstein said in her briefing before the Erie County Legislature on Thursday.

Much of the work being done by the Erie County Health Department has returned to routine business, she said. Because of a decline in Covid-19 testing and vaccination, all such county-sponsored clinic work has now been consolidated at Jesse Nash Health Clinic at 608 William Street in Buffalo.

Free PCR testing and combined rapid testing for Covid-19, the flu and RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) remain available at the clinic in the mornings, and vaccinations are being provided in the afternoons, she said. The county is also still running a Vax Visit home vaccination program, though not through Buffalo Homecare.

She also told legislators that public data reporting for Covid-19 testing, which is currently done weekly, will soon be done only monthly.

Because of the waning interest in getting Covid-19 booster shots, the Health Department is planning to mail postcards to all Erie County residents before the end of the year encouraging everyone to get the latest booster, which is supposed to offer greater protection against the latest variants of the virus.

Burstein also gave updates on several other public health issues:

• Polio: Burstein said there is no process for testing sewage wastewater for the presence of polio in Erie County, despite concerns about the potential spread of polio, a potentially disabling disease that was traced in New York City this summer. However, the state does plan to conduct some wastewater testing for the presence of the polio virus sometime next year.

While polio is not curable, it is preventable through vaccination and was believed to be eradicated in the United States until recently. In Erie County, 89% of children under the age of 2 are up to date on their polio vaccine, Burstein said.

"So we're doing pretty good," she said.

• RSV and flu: Burstein referenced the higher-than-normal surge in RSV and flu cases locally and nationally, which are stressing out hospitals. There is currently no vaccine for RSV, but she encouraged everyone to vaccinated against the flu and to stay home and away from others if sick.

• Monkeypox: The county has confirmed 19 cases of monkeypox in Erie County. The county was concerned about exponential growth in the transmission of the virus in the spring and summer, but public health interventions and vaccination campaigns have led to national and local declines in monkeypox, Burstein said. Erie County's last confirmed case of the illness was in September, she added.

The monkeypox vaccine is also available through the county at the Jesse Nash Health Clinic on William Street. It is also being offered to people in their homes through the Vax Visit program.