The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Chautauqua County skyrocketed last week, with 265 cases reported on average each day.

Between Jan. 2 and Jan. 8, the county Health Department reported 1,855 cases. That comes as at-home test kits have been widely more available locally.

By comparison, there were 852 cases reported the week ending Jan. 1; 544 cases the week ending Dec. 25; 689 the week ending Dec. 18; 726 the week ending Dec. 11; and 872 the week ending Dec. 4.

As of Saturday there were 1,384 active cases of the virus among county residents, an increase of nearly 500 from the previous week. There were also 28 people with COVID in local hospitals and 993 people in quarantine.

The local COVID rate may be even higher.

Currently only positive home rest results that are self reported to Chautauqua County get included in the daily positive cases. The county’s website states it does not want residents reporting negative tests from at home tests, nor positive tests obtained from a doctor’s office, clinic, hospital, pharmacy, on-site at a school, or any testing site or program operated by the Chautauqua County Health Department. “Results from those tests are reported to us automatically by the lab,” the county website states.

But health officials do want residents who test positive from at home tests to self report on the county’s website.

“At-home COVID-19 tests are a blessing when it comes to quickly identifying COVID-19 in the community and reducing its spread accordingly when those who test positive stay home and isolate themselves,” said Public Health Director Christine Schuyler in an email to this newspaper. “Individuals can notify us of their positive results via a form on our website (chqgov.com) and if official isolation papers are needed, they can also be downloaded along with the individual’s official affirmation of infection/isolation.”

And she recognizes that not everyone who tests positive with an at-home test will necessarily go to the county’s website to report their result. “COVID-19 case data cannot adequately reflect all of the home results as we know that negative results aren’t generally reported at all and only some positive results are reported,” she said.