Monroe County officials say local COVID-19 infection rate remains low 

Monroe County has the lowest COVID-19 infection rate for communities with over 500,000 people in the United States according to a New York Times report cited by county leaders. They touted the report in the first of a series of regular coronavirus briefings that will be held on Thursdays.

Monroe County Commissioner of Public Health, Dr. Michael Mendoza, noted that the number of confirmed cases has gone up, including the numbers released on Thursday, which showed 52 new cases of the virus. Mendoza said that’s because the county is doing more testing.

"We’re essentially doing greater surveillance in the community as a result of all this testing and I think that shows when you look at the overall testing numbers going up," Mendoza said. "But the actual percentage of those tests that are positive is holding steady for now, thankfully.”

The numbers released on Thursday also showed two new deaths, with the total number of deaths now at 304.

Mendoza said that he is concerned about large gatherings heading indoors as the weather turns colder.

Monroe County Executive Adam Bello urged everyone to continue to follow the guidelines about keeping coronavirus under control in order to help keep the infection rate low.

Bello also reminded residents that there is free COVID-19 testing available for the community operated by the State Department of Health at the Monroe Community College parking lot in Brighton.