The Monroe County public health department reported Saturday that four more people died of COVID-19 in the county, bringing the total death toll to 171.
The number of people in hospitals for COVID-19 treatment held steady at 119 after increasing for six straight days.
The county began reopening some parts of the economy yesterday, even as the number of people hospitalized ticked up to the highest yet recorded.
Data from New York state showed the Finger Lakes region, which includes Monroe and eight other counties, met all the benchmarks for reopening. Even though the number of people hospitalized was growing, the number of new hospitalizations was low enough for the region to open economic sectors including construction, agriculture, manufacturing and retail, as long as sales were limited to curbside or in-store pickup or dropoff.
The county confirmed 79 new cases of the novel coronavirus, the health department said Saturday. Testing has expanded in the county recently, and the number of confirmed cases has grown with it.
