It appears more COVID-19 cases have been tied to a Dunkirk ice cream manufacturing facility while a caution flag to address rising cases across Western New York is flying “a little higher.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo noted Thursday that a Chautauqua County food processing plant was connected to 53 cases of the coronavirus. The news comes after the Chautauqua County Department of Health on Monday confirmed that Fieldbrook Foods in Dunkirk was the site of a COVID-19 outbreak.

At the time, county officials said Fieldbrook — a local producer of private label ice cream and frozen desserts — had 30 positive cases to date.

Cuomo’s comments indicate that almost two dozen additional cases have been tied to the plant.

County Executive PJ Wendel said local officials have been working with Fieldbrook Foods management and with its parent company — the Iowa-based Wells Enterprises — to review safety protocols and to prevent further spread of the virus.

Meanwhile, Cuomo said Western New York’s rate of positive COVID-19 tests has been above 1% for nine straight days. The region’s daily average number of new cases is now 70 cases per day, the highest since mid-June.

As a result, the governor said he will deploy a “testing SWAT team” to eight sites across the region in a partnership that includes Kaleida Health, Erie County Medical Center and Catholic Health.

Locally, testing will take place at the Dunkirk Fire Murphy Training Grounds at 665 Brigham Road. All eight sites will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from Saturday through Wednesday.

All residents are eligible for tests and appointments can be made by calling 833-NYSTRNG (697-8764). New York state will deploy 50 rapid testing machines to support the effort and will deploy more as needed.

All tests are free of charge and the results will support the contact tracing efforts being conducted to monitor and control the virus spread.

“In Western New York, we have a caution flag out and we’re going to fly it a little higher today. The region’s infection rate was 2 percent yesterday, which is not good news,” Cuomo said. “We’re going to deploy a SWAT team from the Department of Health that is going to conduct additional testing at eight sites in the region using Abbott testing machines, which provide same-day results literally within the hour. We’re focusing on Western New York and we’re going to continue to focus on it. Thank you to our partners Kaleida Health, Erie County Medical Center and Catholic Health for their assistance with this effort.”

Other testing sites include: Deleavan-Grider Community Center, 877 E. Delavan Ave., Buffalo; True Bethel Baptist Church, 907 E. Ferry St., Buffalo; Northwest Buffalo Community Center, 155 Lawn Ave., Buffalo; SUNY ECC North, 6205 Main St., Williamsville; Vigilant Fire Hall, 666 Main St., West Seneca; John A. Duke Senior Center, 1201 Hyde Park Blvd., Niagara Falls; and YWCA of the Niagara Frontier, 32 Cottage St., Lockport.