COVID

COVID hasn’t entirely gone away. But as the public grows weary of COVID this and COVID that, public health officials and physicians hold on to many lessons they believe will serve them well when the next major health emergency arises.

When the Buffalo Bisons begin their 2022 International League season April 5, it will be the first time in three years that the minor league baseball team has hosted a season opener in April. Buffalo’s 2020 season, along with all of minor league baseball, was canceled due to the COVID pandemic. In 2021, to allow their Major League affiliate club Toronto Blue Jays to borrow Sahlen Field for their own home games, the Bisons played a significant chunk of their own season at “home” in Trenton, NJ.

Two years ago, the COVID pandemic finally arrived in Erie County. A local expert in Infectious Diseases looks back on the pandemic, the lessons learned and what is still being learned about a virus that has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans.

US Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand have announced federal relief funding for Wyoming County in the battle against COVID.

The Village of Williamsville approved a resolution on Monday night "opposing any further New York State and Erie County mask mandates, vaccine mandates and other Covid-19 restrictions" as well as the enforcement of those mandates.

Beginning Monday, school districts throughout Erie County will roll out Test to Stay, a COVID policy aimed at keeping kids in school. County health leaders agree it’s important to keep children in classroom settings. The president of the Buffalo Niagara Superintendents Association, meanwhile, says local schools were already prepared to go before getting the county’s guidance Friday.

The Erie County Department of Health has introduced a Test to Stay program for area school students.

Just hours after reporting a daily positivity rate of nearly 22 percent on Sunday, Erie County officials reported an even higher number of new COVID cases were recorded Monday. The Erie County Health Department, early Tuesday evening, released updated numbers including 2,457 new cases on Jan. 3. That number, officials note, does not count home test results.

Despite living in a COVID world for nearly two years, the changing and sometimes conflicting information still leave many asking questions about what to do if one catches and becomes ill with the virus. The most recent developments include the CDC changing its guidelines on isolation and quarantine, and the arrival of the more transmissible Omicron variant. WBFO checked in with local health experts to get some updates and reminders of best practices if one tests positive.

Some unfavorable trends, but also some encouraging numbers make up Erie County’s latest COVID report, which was presented Tuesday. County Executive Mark Poloncarz opened by declaring that the county recorded its highest number of new cases within a 24-hour period, while hospitalizations were down.