Children across Erie County may soon be breathing easier at school.
The Erie County Department of Health on Wednesday announced more than 10,000 air filtration units have been ordered for every K-12 public and charter classroom in the county.
The units will help improve ventilation in classrooms, which is in line with a core recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for preventing the spread of COVID-19.
To date, the county has invested approximately $5 million in federal funding for the project. The county worked closely with school leaders to implement this project.
Per the CDC, Erie County remains in a “high” COVID-19 community level, at an 11.3% positivity rate as of May 31.
The County Health Department confirmed 176 new COVID-19 cases for May 31 and 1,625 total cases over the past 7 days. Total new cases per 100,000 Erie County residents over the past 7 days were 170, for a total of 244,030 cases.
WBFO's Marian Hetherly contributed to this story.