Afternoon News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on December 31, 2020
Genesee county health officials hosted an update for the Covid situation in the county this morning. Health director Paul Pettit talked about the vaccinations, the case numbers and the new mutation of coronavirus. He said that the numbers of people vaccinated in the county is lower than hoped. Nationally vaccination is lagging as well as less than a fifth of doses delivered have been administered. So far, in Genesee county group 1A, primarily health care workers, Pettit says 284 shots have been given and those have gone to employees of UMMC. Group 1B are first responders such as police, fire and EMS. Pettit was also asked about the new variant of the coronavirus. As of today, 30 people in Genesee County have died from COVID-19.
Watch out on the roads New Years day as Livingston and Wyoming Counties are under a Winter Weather Advisory for Freezing rain! Authorities are expecting up to a tenth of an inch of ice from 2 to midnight Friday night.
COVID Update: Genesee county has 142 new cases and 68 people have recovered. 4 people re hospitalized. 20 of the new cases are at Leroy Village Green, 8 are at the NY Veterans Home, 2 are at Genesee Senior Living 1 is at the VA medical center and 1 is at Premier Genesee. We are saddened to report a person passing at Leroy Village Green and at The NY Veterans Home and a Genesee county resident passing. Orleans County has 40 new cases and 16 people have recovered. 21 people are hospitalized. There are 173 active cases in Genesee county and 195 in Orleans.
The Buffalo Bills can have fans in the stands for their first playoff game. And Governor Cuomo will be one of them. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday the state and the team reached an agreement on a pilot program allowing for some fans to be present at the game. The state and the Bills had been working together recently in an attempt to broker an agreement. Under the program, about 6700 fans will be allowed in the stadium 6,200 of them being season ticketholders. Masks and distancing will be required. Tests will be conducted before fans enter the stadium, and contact tracing work will take place as they leave. A $63 fee for testing will be factored into the ticket costs. There will be drive-thru testing in the stadium’s parking lots. The governor announced that he will be in attendance at the first playoff game.
The Bills will be playing against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday but the Dolphins will be without their star quarterback. Ryan Fitzpatrick is out with COVID 19.
