New York State County Declares a State of Emergency

Here in Western New York, there has been a sharp spike in COVID-19 cases as local government tries to combat the increase in cases.

Last Tuesday, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz instituted a mask mandate, which means all those over the age of 2 must wear a mask inside public indoor buildings, except businesses that have strict vaccine mandates in place (KeyBank Center, Highmark Stadium, etc.).

New York State released numbers regarding the COVID-19 cases and the WNY region has the highest daily positivity rate at over 10 percent on Monday. New York State's positivity rate was just over 4 percent.

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The Finger Lakes region has a positivity rate at nearly 10 percent, while Central New York's is over 7 percent.

On Tuesday, one New York County declared a state of emergency.

Monroe County Executive Adam J. Bello declared a state of emergency, due to the rapid increase of COVID-19 hospitalizations.

Bello says he is not calling for a mask mandate at this given time, however. The state of emergency does require masks for county-owned buildings, a work from home policy for county employees, and encouraging private companies to have workers wear masks and allow them the option to work from home. Expanded rapid testing in the Rochester areas as well.

Here in Western New York, the worry is over hospital capacity. Poloncarz tweeted that ECMC, Buffalo Mercy in South Buffalo, and Sisters of Charity Hospital were all at 100 percent capacity.