4 new COVID deaths reported in Monroe County

Rochester, New York – According to Monroe County Department of Public Health officials, four new COVID-19 deaths were reported on Monday, bringing the county’s to-date total to 1,815.

Health officials also reported 122 current COVID-19 hospitalizations in the Finger Lakes Region, including 18 in an ICU — down 3 and 7, respectively, since last Monday’s update.

According to health officials, there were 2,081 new COVID-19 cases reported in Monroe County since last Monday, bringing the county’s seven-day rolling average of new cases to 297 per day.

For comparison, last week the county reported a seven-day rolling average of 192 new cases per day.

According to Monroe County Executive Adam Bello and Public Health Commissioner Dr. Michael Mendoza, the recent uptick in new COVID cases is attributed to the omicron subvariant BA.2, which was identified locally late last month.

“This is not cause for panic,” Bello and Dr. Mendoza said in a joint on March 23. “Most individuals who have been vaccinated and boosted, or who have previously been infected with COVID, will probably not experience severe illness from this variant. However, some people remain at higher risk. An increase in hospitalizations tends to lag behind increases in case numbers.”