ERIE COUNTY, N.Y. — As of 2:45 p.m. Friday the county has 245 confirmed positive cases, with 224 of them being active cases in isolation, 16 people who have recovered, and five deaths.
Poloncarz says an individual who works in county government, and has been working on the COVID-19 response team, began showing symptoms of the illness on Tuesday. The individual did test positive and is now in isolation. Those working in county government are now self monitoring.
Poloncarz said he has not been in contact with the individual since Sunday.
The individual likely contracted COVID-19 outside of county government.
The county says that if you show symptoms you should assume you have COVID-19 and should isolate yourself and monitor those symptoms at home.
Earlier Friday, Poloncarz, along with Erie County Department of Public Works Commissioner William Geary, Buffalo Niagara Convention Center Director Paul Murphy, representatives from U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District staff and others did a walk through of the Buffalo Convention Center to determine if it could be used for a temporary hospital for Western New York patients with coronavirus.
There’s no final analysis yet, but the county executive says it looks promising. New York State has converted the Javits Convention Center into a makeshift hospital to deal with the large number of patients downstate.
Poloncarz says they're looking at other places to put cases of coronavirus.
One location that will be used in response to COVID-19 closures is the Erie Community College Burt P. Flickinger basketball court. The basketball court will be a place for people experiencing homelessness who do not have COVID-19 to stay, as some homeless shelters remain closed. This will begin on Sunday and the county believes they'll be able to fit around 80 people.
In regards to stimulus money, Poloncarz says he believes the money would come to the county, and he believes it will be around $159 million. This money would only be able to be used for COVID-19 response efforts, such as converting the convention center and drive through testing.
The county is no longer releasing the locations of where each confirmed positive cases have been due to the sheer number of confirmed cases. People should assume that most public places they have been to have already had a confirmed case.
The current communities with cases include:
- 81 Confirmed in Buffalo
- 59 Confirmed in Amherst/Williamsville
- 14 Confirmed in Cheektowaga/Sloan
- 14 Confirmed in West Seneca
- 13 Confirmed in Tonawanda/Kenmore
- 12 Confirmed in Clarence
- 9 Confirmed in Hamburg/Blasdell
- 8 Confirmed in Orchard Park/Village
- 7 Confirmed in Lancaster/Village
- 5 Confirmed in Grand Island
- 4 Confirmed in Aurora/East Aurora
- 4 Confirmed in Evans/Angola
- 3 Confirmed in North Collins/Village
- 3 Confirmed in Elma
- 3 Confirmed in Alden/Village
- 2 Confirmed in City of Tonawanda
- 1 Confirmed in Lackawanna
- 1 Confirmed in Holland
- 1 Confirmed in Eden