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County cases rise to seven; 84 tests are negative

Chautauqua County has a total of seven confirmed cases of COVID-19, with two new positive tests reported today.

These new cases include:

· A woman in her 70s, with no recent travel.

· A woman in her 30s, with no recent travel outside the country, has had travel to Erie County, NY.

Based on the initial review of each case by Health Department epidemiology staff, these individuals appear to have had separate exposures to the novel coronavirus.

Both of these individuals will continue to recover at home under mandatory isolation as ordered by the Local Health Official per state Public Health Law.

Chautauqua County Public Health staff performs an intensive investigation to identify close contacts of positive COVID-19 cases. Following guidance from the state Health Department, contact tracing begins on the day the person with the positive test started having symptoms. The state deems this the beginning of the infections period. Once identified, our department notifies the close contacts of their potential exposure to COVID-19 and they are placed under mandatory or precautionary quarantine to monitor for symptoms.

If you do not personally hear from a public health nurse, you are not a close contact of an individual who has been confirmed to have COVID-19. Per NYSDOH, close contact refers to a person who cared for or lived with a person with COVID-19. It does not include activities such as walking by a person or sitting across a waiting room or office for a brief time.

In addition, there are several individuals who have received isolation and quarantine orders by the Public Health Director. This includes:

— 21 individuals in Mandatory Quarantine (individuals confirmed positive of COVID-19 or a household contact of a confirmed positive COVID-19 case);

— 38 individuals in Precautionary Quarantine (individuals with travel history to CDC level 3 country or proximal contact of a confirmed case of COVID-19);

— 25 individuals in Mandatory Isolation (individuals who are symptomatic of COVID-19 and are pending COVID-19 lab test); and

— 84 negative test results to date.

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