BUFFALO, N.Y. — As the data for Erie County shows COVID-19 cases remaining relatively stable, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz expressed concern during a Wednesday briefing about the increased number of cases in the southern part of the state.
He said currently 32 people, or 40 percent, of those hospitalized for COVID-19 in the Western New York region are outside of Erie County, which is the largest percentage since the pandemic began. Poloncarz says 47 people are currently hospitalized in Erie County hospitals.
As of October 19, the two largest groups with the highest number of positive tests are in the 20-29 and 30-39 age groups. Positive cases in the 0-19 age group decreased by 5 percent. Five people died from COVID-19 over the past week.
Erie County Health Commissioner Dr. Gale Burstein confirmed a COVID case at SS. Peter and Paul School in Hamburg requiring those in the 3rd and 5th grades to quarantine for two weeks. She added that fortunately, there have been no huge outbreaks in schools and says the current protocols in place are working.
The zip code with the highest number of cases is 14124, which belongs to the University Heights area of Buffalo. Poloncarz says a small cluster of cases in the 14052 zip code belonging to the Town of Aurora/East Aurora area has been traced back to three families.
2 On Your Side also got an update about whether fans will be allowed at Bills Stadium this season.
Three weeks ago, Governor Andrew Cuomo got a lot of Bills fans' attention when he said he'd be coming out here to check out the stadium with the goal of getting fans back in the stands.
Since then, we've heard almost nothing.
Governor Cuomo said he'd tour the stadium soon and meet with team leadership. Opening Bills Stadium to fans is up to the state, not the county, but we wanted to see if there was any update today on whether the tour with the governor is happening.
"You guys might as well stop reporting about the Bills until something happens," Poloncarz said. "It's like people asking the weatherman is is gonna rain tomorrow. I don't know, maybe? I really don't have anything else to add. It's a small portion of the population. It's a very vocal portion of the population, but it's a small portion of the population, and that's what it comes down to. There's always going to be people who are critical of it."
The pandemic has also changed how families are celebrating Halloween this year, and if you're looking for ways to celebrate that don't involve trick-or-treating, Dr. Burstein offered some alternatives Wednesday.
Every city, town, and village will have its own Halloween guidelines - whether it's hours - like in Amherst where the hours are from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Halloween night for trick-or-treating and you are asked to wear a mask and wash your hands a lot if you're giving out candy. Or in Buffalo, where the mayor is discouraging trick-or-treating and indoor gatherings. Wednesday, the Erie County health commissioner gave parents a few ideas that don't involve trick-or-treating that you can still dress up in a costume for.
"There are a lot of fun things you can do instead of going door-to-door and collecting candy," Burstein said. "You can do activities in your house, like carving pumpkins, or have a dress-up contest, or have a little scavenger hunt in your house. You can have a scavenger hunt in your community, and write a list of things that you want your kids to spot, and they can just walk through the neighborhood in their costumes and tick off that they saw them, and then they can get a candy prize or something healthy prize."
