Erie County health officials are working to reach anyone in contact with the county’s first three presumptive cases of COVID-19.
The cases were announced by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Saturday evening, in a briefing where he also allowed schools greater leeway to close without running afoul of state requirements.
The local cases were confirmed by County Executive Mark Poloncarz in a tweet shortly after the Cuomo announcement.
I have been advised by @ECDOH that of today's tests, 3 samples from @ErieCountyNY residents tested positive for the #Coronavirus/#COVIDー19. @ECDOH is currently contacting close contacts of the persons. I will hold a press conference at 11 am tomorrow morning with more details. pic.twitter.com/B6Cr6CF0GI
— Mark Poloncarz (@markpoloncarz) March 14, 2020
“These tests were performed by the Erie County Public Health Lab and completed late Saturday afternoon Erie County Department of Health (ECDOH) epidemiologists are already at work to identify the close contacts of these individuals and to place those close contacts in quarantine to monitor for COVID19 symptoms,” county health officials said in a prepared statement.
On Friday, the cluster of cases in New York surpassed Washington state for the first time, Cuomo said. As of Saturday evening, state officials reported 613 cases in New York state, with the greatest concentration --579 of them - downstate. The other nearest cases to greater Buffalo were two previously reported ones in Monroe County.
The governor also says he’s signing an executive order to let schools in the state be open less than the required 180 days per year, and still be able to qualify for aid. Many schools have announced temporary closures. The governor says for now he’s not recommending that schools close, he’s leaving that decision up to the individual districts.
On the heels of the Governor's announcement, Batavia School Superintendent Anibal Soler announced that "effective immediately, Batavia City Schools will be closed until further notice," with mor information about meals and curriculum planning expected.
On Friday, Buffalo Superintendent Dr. Kriner Cash announced all Buffalo Public Schools will be closed for students on Monday, March 16. Students will return to their schools on Tuesday and will receive prepared materials to bring home in case a decision to close schools for an extended period of time is made. .
If a child, teacher or staff member tests positive for the corona virus, then a school will be automatically shut down for 24 hours to clean the building and assess the situation.
The governor says he is recommending that the political campaign petitioning process, which is under way for June primaries be halted. He says he’s talking with legislative leaders about how to change the rules for how a candidate qualifies to be on the ballot.
U.S. officials are bracing for a dramatic acceleration of cases — beyond the roughly 2,200 that have been documented so far in 49 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico.
For most people, the coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, like fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.
