ERIE COUNTY, N.Y. — The Erie County Department of Health announced Wednesday morning that Erie County officials will be holding a COVID-19 update at 2:30 p.m.
This update comes a few days after Governor Andrew Cuomo issued Western New York a 'caution flag' because of the increase in COVID-19 cases and the infection rate. The governor stated that the case increase has been driven by:
- Clusters at a steel plant in Erie County and food processing factory in Chautauqua County (Fieldbrook Foods Corporation in Dunkirk)
- New cases at two nursing homes identified by state-mandated testing of staff
- Pre-hospital procedure screening
- Testing of seasonal labor at farms
Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz released a statement on Monday regarding the COVID spread across the region, but did not provide details on the increases. You can read the full statement here.
The Erie County Department of Health has not commented on the rise in cases. 2 On Your Side has filed FOIL requests to try and gain more information on where these cases are coming from.
The Erie County Commissioner of Health Dr. Gale Burstein and Poloncarz are both expected to speak Wednesday. The COVID-19 update will be carried live on Channel 2 and streamed online at WGRZ.com.
The last COVID-19 briefing held by Erie County officials was back on August 5.