Morning News Brief
Written by Tom Tharp on December 23, 2021
Wednesday afternoon Governor Hochul signed several pieces of legislation aimed at making it easier to combat the spread of COVID. The first piece makes claiming to have been vaccinated against COVID falsely a misdemeanor offense. The legislation classifies the crime as forgery of a written instrument. The second of note makes schools able to access the statewide immunization database and download the database for easier searching and keeping tabs on which student is vaccinated against what. Other legislation enacted several studies into the COVID response.
The United Memorial Medical Center has suspended elective surgeries for the next 2 weeks starting today. The hospital now counts as an impacted facility. UMMC will suspend all non-essential elective inpatient, 23-hour and same day elective surgeries and procedures. The Health department says that the hospital has less than 10 percent of its beds free.
Want to go to a game or event at the Bills Stadium, Blue Cross Arena, or KeyBank Center with a child 5-11 years old? Better be ready to show a proof of vaccination for the kid too. All guests 5 and up now must show an original vaccination card, Excelsior Pass, or government proof of vaccination to enter. So far these are the only large venue locations in the area requiring vaccination for entry.
GO Health is now able to accept the results of at home COVID test. The Health department announced on Wednesday that they have developed an online form that allows people to report their positive test results from at-home kits. The form requires that you take a picture of the test to prove the results and the authenticity of the test. Any positive results must be reported within 24 hours of taking the test. Negative tests do not need to be reported.
West Seneca Police are warning of people using Apple Airtags to stalk people. Airtags are quarter sized metal disks that can be used to find things by tracking the disc and anything it is attached to on your phone so long as it is can connect to a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth signal. People noticed that they had been tagged with one of these devices when their phone warned them that someone could see their location. Police were able to find one of the devices secreted into a car’s undercarriage but were not able to find others. They say it can be nearly impossible as the tags are so small. Police warn that the tags can be used to follow someone electronically and possibly set them up for robbery or other crimes. You can install a Bluetooth scanner on your phone that tells you when there are Bluetooth devices near you to see if you have been tagged.
