Stories from

Press release:

• State will monitor four core factors to determine if a region can reopen: number of new infections, health care capacity, diagnostic testing capacity and contact tracing capacity.
• Outlines new safety precautions each business must put in place upon reopening.
• More than one million New Yorkers have been tested for COVID-19 to date.
• New York's National Guard has made nearly 300,000 testing kits to collect samples.
• Announces special enrollment through the marketplace will remain open through June 15, 2020.
• Confirms 2,538 additional coronavirus cases in New York State -- bringing statewide total to 318,953; new cases in 45 counties.
• Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today outlined additional guidelines for when regions can reopen.

The state will monitor four core factors to determine if a region can reopen:

1. New Infections: Based on guidelines from the CDC, regions must have at least 14 days of decline in total net hospitalizations and deaths on a three-day rolling average. In regions with few COVID cases, the region cannot exceed 15 net new total hospitalizations or five new deaths on a three-day rolling average. In order to monitor the potential spread of infection in a region, a region must have fewer than two new COVID patients admitted per 100,000 residents per day.
2. Health Care Capacity: Every region must have the health care capacity to handle a potential surge in cases. Regions must have at least 30 percent total hospital and ICU beds available. This is coupled with the new requirement that hospitals have at least 90 days of personal protective equipment stockpiled.
3. Diagnostic Testing Capacity: Each region must have the capacity to conduct 30 diagnostic tests for every 1,000 residents per month. The state is rapidly expanding capacity statewide to help all regions meet this threshold.
4. Contact Tracing Capacity: Regions must have a baseline of 30 contact tracers for every 100,000 residents, and additional tracers based on the projected number of cases in the region. The state is currently building an army of contact tracers with Mayor Bloomberg to meet the needs of each region statewide.

Governor Cuomo also outlined which industries and businesses can open in each phase of the state's reopening plan. Businesses considered "more essential" with inherent low risks of infection in the workplace and to customers will be prioritized, followed by other businesses considered "less essential" or those that present a higher risk of infection spread.

Regions must not open attractions or businesses that would draw a large number of visitors from outside the local area.

The Governor also outlined new safety precautions that each business must put in place upon reopening to help lower the risk of spreading the virus. Businesses will be required to:

• Adjust workplace hours and shift design as necessary to reduce density in the workplace;
• Enact social distancing protocols;
• Restrict nonessential travel for employees;
• Require all employees and customers to wear masks if in frequent contact with others;
• Implement strict cleaning and sanitation standards;
• Enact a continuous health screening process for individuals to enter the workplace;
• Continue tracing, tracking and reporting of cases; and
• Develop liability processes.

The Governor also announced that more than one million New Yorkers have already been tested for COVID-19 to date.

The Governor also announced New York's National Guard has made nearly 300,000 testing kits to collect samples, 60,000 of which are being sent to labs and hospitals across New York State.

The Governor also announced the special enrollment period through the NY State of Health Health Plan Marketplace will remain open through June 15, 2020.

"While we continue to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus, we can begin to focus on reopening, but we have to be careful and use the information we've learned so we don't erase the strides we've already made," Governor Cuomo said. "Reopening is not going to happen statewide all at once -- New York has diverse regions and those regions have different circumstances, so rather than wait for the whole state to be ready to reopen we are going to analyze the situation on a regional basis.

"We will measure whether a region can reopen based on four factors -- the number of new infections, health care capacity, diagnostic testing and contact tracing -- and we will continue to monitor these factors throughout the reopening process to prevent a second wave of the virus and protect the health and safety New Yorkers."

Nickie Fazio, wife of Batavia High School softball Coach Jim Fazio, made this video as a tribute to the 2020 softball team, whose season has been canceled by the coronavirus pandemic.

Fazio said:

I wanted to do something special for the Varsity girls since they did not get to play this year. My heart goes out to all of them, but especially the seniors. Took me the whole week to get it done. Thank you to everyone that sent me pictures to help me put this together. It evolved into something much bigger than I originally planned. This was the best way Coach and I could express how much these girls mean to us.

Press release from AAA: 

Today’s national average price for a gallon of gasoline is $1.78, up 1 cent since last week. One year ago, the price was $2.90. The New York State average is $2.16 – down 2 cents from last week. A year ago, the NYS average was $2.97. AAA Western and Central New York (AAA WCNY) reports the following averages:

• Batavia -- $2.23 (down 4 cents since last week)
• Buffalo -- $2.21 (down 2 cents since last week)
• Ithaca -- $2.13 (down 6 cents since last week)
• Rochester -- $2.18 (down 2 cents since last week)
• Rome -- $2.11 (down 2 cents since last week)
• Syracuse -- $2.06 (down 2 cents since last week)
• Watertown -- $2.13 (down 2 cents since last week)

After steadily declining because of low gas demand and cheap crude prices due to COVID-19, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline has increased for the first time in 10 weeks.

Today’s national average is still historically low – at $1.78, which is $1.12 less than a year ago. Data from the Energy Information Administration reveals that domestic gas demand continues to increase, which helped to push up the national average. It grew from 5.31 million b/d (barrels per day) to 5.86 million b/d recently; however, it is still 3.37 million b/d lower than last year’s rate at this same time.

As more states aim to end their stay at home orders and businesses around the country begin to reopen, gas demand is likely to continue increasing and pump prices are likely to slow their decline and possibly increase as well. Local prices continue to drop as they are slower to react to national trends.

From GasBuddy:

"It's becoming a bit clearer that those 99 cent per gallon gas prices from the COVID-19 pandemic are solidly behind us as gasoline demand rebounds across the country as cities and states slowly reopen. The lowest-priced stations in the country will see some upward movement, but most areas will still see declines," said Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy.

"While oil may continue to struggle, a disconnect between low oil prices and rising gasoline prices has emerged at the hands of refineries that have slowed production over the past month to avoid flooding the market with unwanted gasoline. As demand stages a rebound, it remains to be seen how quickly refiners will raise production to meet the locations that have or will begin to re-open in the days and weeks ahead.

"For now, expect prices to see upward potential- but only in the lower -- priced states -- as we await a boost in gasoline production."

Press release:

The Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments have received five more COVID-19 cases. Orleans has two new cases and Genesee has three. 

Contact tracing has been initiated and all who have had direct contact with the individual will be notified by Health Department staff. Both of the Orleans County individuals are residents of The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center.

There is currently no further information to release on ages and locations. Mapping to include the positive cases from the weekend will be updated on Monday afternoon.

“We are also saddened to report one more death of an Orleans County resident from The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center. We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of this individual during this very challenging time,” said Paul Pettit, Director of Genesee & Orleans County Health Departments.

We continue to encourage our residents to be vigilant about handwashing, cleaning frequently used surfaces, properly wearing cloth face coverings over the mouth and nose, keeping your hands away from your face, limiting time out in public and when you do need to go out for essentials you designate one person from your household, keep social distancing and stay home if you are sick.

Sunday message from Pastor Roula Alkhouri, Batavia First Presbyterian Church: "What is Saving Your Life Right Now?"

Press release:

AMID ONGOING COVID-19 PANDEMIC, GOVERNOR CUOMO, GOVERNOR MURPHY, GOVERNOR LAMONT, GOVERNOR WOLF, GOVERNOR CARNEY, GOVERNOR RAIMONDO & GOVERNOR BAKER ANNOUNCE JOINT MULTI-STATE AGREEMENT TO DEVELOP REGIONAL SUPPLY CHAIN FOR PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT AND MEDICAL EQUIPMENT

States will aggregate demand for personal protective equipment, medical equipment and testing on a regional basis.

Regional supply chains will help realize better pricing, delivery and reliability of PPE and medical equipment for states.

Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, Delaware Governor John Carney, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo and Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker today announced a joint multistate agreement to develop a regional supply chain for personal protective equipment, other medical equipment and testing.

While the states will continue to partner with the federal government during this global and national public health crisis, they will also work together to identify the entire region's needs for these products, aggregate demand among the states, reduce costs and stabilize the supply chain.

The states will also coordinate policies regarding the inventory of PPE each state's health care infrastructure should have to be prepared for a possible second wave of COVID-19. The states will also coordinate policies on what supplies local governments should have on hand for their first responders, and if any requirements regarding PPE for the not-for-profit and private sector are needed.

The states will then seek to identify suppliers within the country, region or state who can scale to meet the demand of the entire region over the next three months. The goal of this approach is to decrease the potential for disruptions in the supply chain for PPE and medical equipment, including sanitizer and ventilators, and testing, and promote regional economic development.

In addition, the states are discussing how to collectively explore emerging technologies on an ongoing basis to take advantage of the potential associated with alternative methods of production for existing products and innovation that would lead to more effective and/or less expensive alternatives. For example, 3D printers may represent an attractive alternative to manufacturing certain personal protective equipment and medical products.

"The COVID-19 pandemic created a mad scramble for medical equipment across the entire nation -- there was competition among states, private entities and the federal government and we were driving up the prices of these critical resources," Governor Cuomo said.

"As a state and as a nation, we can't go through that again. We're going to form a regional state purchasing consortium with our seven Northeast partner states to increase our market power when we're buying supplies and help us actually get the equipment at a better price. I want to thank our neighboring states for their ongoing support, generosity and regional coordination on these important efforts."

Governor Murphy said, "Our states should never be in a position where we are actively competing against each other for life-saving resources. By working together across the region, we can obtain critical supplies as we begin the process to restart our economies, while also saving money for our taxpayers. This concept is at the heart of the regional approach we've established."

Governor Lamont said, "With global supply chains continuing to experience a major disruption due to the pandemic, combining the efforts of our states into a regional purchasing initiative will help our states obtain needed PPE and other medical equipment without competing against each other. I've long been advocating for the federal government to get involved because pitting all 50 states against each other to compete for these supplies has never made any sense. Partnering with our neighbors helps make our purchasing power stronger and more dependable."

Governor Wolf said, "By working together we can combine our strengths to build the capacities we all need. We can exploit our market size to encourage producers to make what we need, we can exploit our financial strength to give that encouragement added weight, and we can exploit the great research institutions and the brainpower in our region to increase our chances of success. I look forward to working with my fellow governors — and my neighbors -- to build a strong regional supply chain."

Governor Carney said, "We need a consistent approach for moving our states out of this crisis, and that includes ensuring a sufficient supply of PPE and tests. I'm thankful for this coordination with my fellow governors in the region. We'll be better positioned to continue tackling this crisis working together with the states around us."

Governor Raimondo said, "Our healthcare workers should never have to worry if we have enough PPE to keep them safe. Over the past two months, we've been scouring the earth for supplies and have worked hard to meet the demand on the frontlines. We know that, in order to safely reopen the economy, we need a long-term supply of PPE for all critical infrastructure workers. I look forward to continuing to collaborate with states across the region in order to build and maintain a steady, reliable, and affordable supply of PPE."

Governor Baker said, "Massachusetts looks forward to working with other states to identify more options for PPE procurements for our health care workers and public safety personnel."

Friends and family of Joshua T. Fullmer Sr., who died Monday following a motorcycle and bicycle accident on Route 5 near Wortendyke Road, was fondly remembered Saturday evening in a candlelight vigil at the site of the crash.

From his obituary:

Josh was a wonderful young man who packed a lot of life in his 27 years, some would say he was an “Old Soul,” friends, he had too many to count but Josh always, always had an ear to listen or a hand to lend. He had an unusual love for snakes, his motorcycle and children, he was wonderful with them and they were drawn to him. Josh was employed at HP Hood in Batavia and was a wonderful husband, father, son and brother.

Top photo: His mother, Joy, stepfather, Joe, and his siblings, Justin, Jeremy and Brittany.

Photos by Jessica Pfalzer

A 77-year-old Darien resident was found yesterday afternoon by his daughter partially submerged in a pond on his property at 976 Broadway Road, according to State Police.

The victim could not be revived. State Police are refusing to release his name.

Emergency responders were dispatched to the residence at 12:30 p.m., yesterday.

A police source said investigators have yet to determine how he fell into the pond. The investigation is continuing into the cause of death.

Photo by Alecia Kaus/Video News Service.

The lights may have gone out on the academic year yesterday but the lights shown brightly at Hartwood Park to honor all of Le Roy's Oatkan Knights.

Video by Principal Tim McArdle.

The Batavian Sessions featuring Paul Draper.

TIP JAR: Paul doesn't have a PayPal account but if you would like to tip your local, friendly musician, send your PayPal donation to howardowens@gmail.com and we'll make sure he gets it.

If you would like to comment on the live feed during the show, got to the YouTube page for the live stream.

Our local family of dinosaurs reappeared in Downtown Batavia today, this time with a little one in tow.

Another free online Saturday night concert by the Old Hippies for the folks of Genesee County from their vacation home in Florida.

Check back at 8 p.m. for a special edition of The Batavian Sessions, featuring Paul Draper.

Press release:

• State will distribute more than 7 million more cloth masks to vulnerable New Yorkers and frontline workers across the State. 
• State is distributing $25 million to food banks across the State through the Nourish New York Initiative.
• Confirms 4,663 additional coronavirus cases in New York State -- bringing statewide total to 312,977; new cases in 44 counties.
• Governor Andrew M. Cuomo: "Uncharted waters doesn't mean proceed blindly, right? It means get information, get data, the best you can, and use that data to decide where you're going. So, especially in this situation, you have so much emotion, you have politics, you have personal anxiety that people feel, social anxiety, social stress. Let's stick to the facts, let's stick to the data, let's make sure we're making the best decisions with the best information that we have." 
• Cuomo: "We want people to know who need to use the subways and buses, because they are working, that they're safe. And the essential workers who have kept this entire society functioning have done an extraordinary job, and we want them to know that we're doing everything we can do to keep them safe."
• Earlier today, Governor Cuomo announced the results of the state's completed antibody testing study show 12.3 percent of the population have COVID-19 antibodies. The survey developed a baseline infection rate by testing 15,000 people at grocery stores and community centers across the state over the past two weeks. Of those tested, 11.5 percent of women tested positive and 13.1 percent of men tested positive. A regional breakdown of the results is below:

Region

Percent Positive

Capital District

2.2%

Central NY

1.9%

Finger Lakes

2.6%

Hudson Valley
(Without Westchester/Rockland)

3%

Long Island

11.4%

Mohawk Valley

2.7%

North Country

1.2%

NYC

19.9%

Southern Tier

2.4%

Westchester/Rockland

13.8%

Western NY

6%

 

The Governor also announced that the state will distribute over seven million more cloth masks to vulnerable New Yorkers and essential workers across the state. The masks will be distributed as follows:

• 500,000 for NYCHA residents;
• 500,000 for farmworkers;
• 1 million for vulnerable populations, including the mental health and developmentally disabled communities;
• 500,000 for homeless shelters;
• 2 million for elderly New Yorkers and nursing homes;
• 1 million for faith-based organizations and food banks.
• 2 million for grocery stores, supermarkets, and food delivery workers.

The Governor also announced the state is distributing $25 million to food banks across the state through the Nourish New York Initiative. The Nourish New York initiative, announced earlier this week by Governor Cuomo, is working to quickly reroute New York's surplus agricultural products to the populations who need them most through New York's network of food banks. Funding will be distributed as follows:

• New York City Region: $11 million

• Westchester Region: $1 million

• Long Island Region: $1.6 million

• Capital/Hudson Valley Region (includes portion of North Country and Mohawk Valley): $4.4 million

• Central NY Region (includes portion of North Country and Mohawk Valley): $2.2 million

• Southern Tier Region: $1.1 million

• Western New York Region: $2.1 million

• Finger Lakes Region (includes portion of Southern Tier): $1.7 million

Press release:

The Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments have received two more COVID-19 cases. Orleans has two new cases and Genesee has zero.

Contact tracing has been initiated and all who have had direct contact with the individual will be notified by Health Department staff. Both of the individuals are residents of The Villages of Orleans Health and Rehabilitation Center.

There is currently no further information to release on ages and locations. Mapping to include the positive cases from the weekend will be updated on Monday afternoon.

We continue to encourage our residents to be vigilant about handwashing, cleaning frequently used surfaces, properly wearing cloth face coverings over the mouth and nose, keeping your hands away from your face, limiting time out in public and when you do need to go out for essentials you designate one person from your household, keep social distancing and stay home if you are sick.

Press release:

• Directs schools and colleges to create Reopening Plans that reimagine facilities to be approved by the state;
• State is partnering with Kate Spade New York Foundation and Crisis Text Line to provide 24/7 emotional support service for frontline workers; workers can text NYFRONTLINE to 741-741;
• Department of Financial Services to require New York State-regulated health insurers to waive out-of-pocket costs for mental health services for frontline essential workers;
• Announces new targeted efforts to further reduce number of new hospitalizations per day;
• Five new drive-through testing facilities now open in Monroe, Erie, Broome, Niagara and Oneida counties;
• Confirms 3,942 additional coronavirus cases in New York State -- bringing statewide total to 308,314; new cases in 48 counties;
• Governor Andrew M. Cuomo: "Nobody can predict what the situation is going to be three weeks or four weeks from now, so we are trying to stage decisions at intervals that give us information, but also enough time for people to make preparations they need to make."
• "We are going to be asking businesses to come up with plans that safeguard workers when they reopen. We need schools to come up with plans also that bring those precautions into the schoolroom. That is also for colleges, and the state will approve those plans."
• Amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Governor Cuomo today announced all K-12 schools and college facilities statewide will remain closed for the rest of the academic year and will continue to provide distance learning during that time. The schools will also be required to continue meal programs and child care services for essential workers. The state will make a decision about summer school programming by the end of May.

Alexander High School senior Lowell Chamberlain is John Mikulski Scholarship winner, presented by the Genesee Wyoming Music Educators Association.

His primary instrument is guitar. He also plays tenor sax, trombone and bass guitar.

Press release:

WHEN ASKED WHAT HIS GREATEST HS MUSICAL MEMORY IS, LOWELL RESPONDED:

"Being a part of the Alexander Jazz Experience was not only the most wholesome and fulfilling introduction to Jazz, but it also left me with a gratitude and sense of preparedness for performing in ensembles."

Lowell's goal is to work in the music industry as a composer/arranger, and songwriter. He currently enjoys spending time composing and producing using Abelton Live.

WHEN ASKED WHAT HIS FAVORITE PERFORMANCE AND VENUE WAS HE RESPONDED:

"The Riviera Theater in Buffalo in 2017 for the Music is Arts Festival with the Alexander Jazz Experience. We played a combination of jazz standards such as Cold Duck Time and St. Thomas as well as some Funk/Fusion jams such as Chameleon and Watermelon Man."

Lowell's main influences are: His teacher Dan Klinczar, Michael League of Snarky Puppy, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Stephen Sondheim.

Lowell will be attending SUNY Purchase in the fall where he will be studying Studio Composition! We wish him luck and are so proud of all of his accomplishments.

Press release:

Officials at Western Regional Off-Track Betting / Batavia Downs Gaming (WROTB/BDG) today announced they have received funds via the Paycheck Protection Program which will provide critical financial relief for costs including payroll, health benefits, rent, and other expenses related to job retention.

The funds will cover the next two months of expenses and were awarded April 30.

“When PPP funding was announced last month, the Board of Directors and I made the decision almost immediately to apply for relief,” said Henry Wojtaszek, president and CEO of WROTB/BDG. “What was most important was continuing to financially support our staff and their families during these uncertain times.”

The gaming facility was closed on March 16th and employees were paid their full wages for a period of one month. On April 16th they were furloughed for a period of two weeks. Once the PPP loan was secured, employees were recalled to begin work again on the next pay week.

Throughout the temporary closure, there have been employees working onsite including security and surveillance. Others are working from home. As a potential reopening date comes closer there will be new health, safety, and security protocols put into place.

Employees will be trained and made aware of whatever new safety regulations are implemented well in advance of opening in order to provide a safe environment for employees and guests.

“Once we reopen, we will look to continue to deliver revenue to our partners in local government," Wojtaszek said. “Once given the go-ahead by state officials we hope that through the gaming floor, our concerts, and events we can provide much-needed monies to local governments in order to fund critical services from first responders to food banks. We know it will take a lot of preparation on our end to meet those standards, but our dedicated staff will ready to take on the task.”

Western Regional OTB and Batavia Downs employs more than 450 hardworking Western New Yorkers.

Written briefing:

New Cases

• As of 2 p.m.
  • Genesee County received one new positive case of COVID-19, for a total of 150 positive cases.
    • The positive case resides in Batavia.
    • The positive case is in their 70s.
    • The newly positive individual was not on quarantine prior to becoming symptomatic.
    • Three of the previous positive cases have recovered and have been released from mandatory isolation.
    • Four of the total active positive cases are hospitalized.
• Orleans County received one new positive case of COVID-19 for a total of 96 positive cases.
  • The positive case resides in Albion.
  • The positive case is in their 30s.
  • The individual had been on mandatory quarantine prior to becoming symptomatic.
  • Five of the total active positive cases are hospitalized.
• Orleans County has lost two more residents to COVID-19. They were both residents at The Village of Orleans Health & Rehab facility. Both were over 65. We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of these individuals during this very difficult time.
• Please take a moment of silence to remember all we have lost in our counties, our state, our nation and around the world. These people are our parents, our grandparents, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, friends, neighbors and coworkers. They have each been important to us and they have had an impact on all they have had contact with.

Click here to view the Genesee and Orleans County online map of confirmed cases

The facility breakdown is only showing those facilities from where we received a positive swab for COVID-19. Facilities will be added when and if there is a positive case of COVID-19. If a regulated facility from either of our counties is not listed, there are no positive cases of COVID-19 as of the release of this briefing. The local health departments do not have oversight with many regulated facilities, which may include nursing homes, correctional facilities, hospitals, etc.

• In order to show community spread of the active cases, we have broken out the facilities and all active cases (mandatory isolation, mandatory quarantine and precautionary quarantine and recovery) will only be community cases. We will continue to include all confirmed cases, total tests administered, total negative results, ages and deaths cumulatively for both community and facilities. We found that because we are not the agency that follows non-county regulatory facilities we couldn’t report recoveries. We expect this will give a clearer picture of what is happening in Genesee and Orleans counties.
  • We are having conversations with our local facilities as appropriate to provide guidance and personal protective equipment (PPE) as it is available, but we are limited in what we can do because they are state or federal facilities and not under local oversight. If you have questions or concerns about a specific facility we encourage you to talk directly with the facility and the appropriate oversight agency.
• The NYS Health Department will partner with the State’s Attorney General to investigate nursing home violations. A hotline or online form can be submitted where residents, families, or members of the public can share complaints about nursing homes that have not provided required communications with families about COVID-19 diagnoses or fatalities, nursing home abuse, and neglect including failure to follow rules to keep residents safe. The hotline number is (833) 249-8499 or click this link for the online form.
• Swabbing and antibody testing is becoming increasingly available in the WNY region.If you are experiencing symptoms, contact your primary care provider and they will determine if testing is right for you. If the counties receive an increase in swabbing supplies and the protocol for testing is changed, we will notify the public. The Health Departments are not providing public swabbing due to lack of supplies. For more information on testing click here.
• There is still no cure or vaccination available for COVID-19. Be alert to scams or home remedies. Contact your primary care provider if you have any symptoms and follow his/her instructions.
• Prepping for Re-opening Our Region: Although there currently isn’t any guidance on when WNY will be allowed to reopen, we are optimistic we will have guidance soon and encourage everyone to be prepared in our preparations with our goal to protect the health and safety of our residents. Conditions will be monitored to limit and lessen (mitigate) any rebounds or outbreaks by restarting a phase or returning to an earlier phase, depending on the severity to protect the most vulnerable. Reopening will be data driven to determine the viability of the process. If there is a sharp increase of positive swabs and antibody results we need to determine if it is related to increased testing, lack of following guidance or a combination of the two.
  • For all businesses: Develop a plan to limit the risk of infection of employees and the public. Monitor workforce for symptoms, do not allow symptomatic people to physically return to work until cleared by a medical provider. If possible continue to encourage telework whenever possible.
    • The Health Departments encourage stores and businesses to set guidelines that include not allowing patrons to enter if they are not wearing a face covering or are not wearing it correctly (covering the mouth & nose). For those who cannot wear masks for legitimate breathing issues, ask someone else to run errands for your or call ahead to see if you can have curbside delivery. Make sure you have proper signage noting your policy and that it is visible to your patrons.
    • Close common areas where personnel are likely to congregate and interact or enforce strict social distancing protocols.
    • Ensure 6 foot buffer zones when dealing with the public and between work stations. Prioritize online payments over cashiers when possible.
    • Provide handwashing / hand sanitizing stations for employees and the public.
    • Consider making properly worn face coverings (covering the mouth and nose) mandatory for staff and customers. For those unable to wear masks due to legitimate breathing issues, reassign them so they don’t interact with the public or have close contact with fellow workers.
    • Review your sick leave policy and enforce it so no on exhibiting symptoms is allowed to report for duty. If someone becomes ill at work, have disinfecting protocol in place to clean the area(s) the employee has been in.
  • For everyone: Wearing Masks and Social Distancing is paramount to preventing flare-ups and mini-outbreaks. Everyone needs to be compliant. Correctly wearing cloth masks (covering the mouth and nose) is part of a multipronged approach to stop/slow the spread of COVID-19. We know wearing a face covering is inconvenient and uncomfortable, but it can limit transmission of respiratory germs. The mask traps the droplets before they spread into the environment. Remember wearing a face covering helps to protect others from your potential germs. Since many have been asymptomatic, this will help limit the spread…"My mask protects you, and your mask protects me!" Wearing face coverings is a way of strengthening social distancing.
  • Minimize nonessential travel and adhere to CDC guidelines regarding isolation following travel.
  • Continue the following:
    • Continue frequent handwashing / hand sanitizing if soap and water are not available.
    • Continue frequent sanitizing / cleaning of shared surfaces.
    • Continue Social Distancing – staying 6 feet away from others (non-household members)
    • Continue Wearing face coverings
    • Stay HOME if you are sick!!!

Mental Health

• Everyone reacts differently to stressful situations and having to socially distance yourself from someone you love can be difficult. Below are resources that can help you connect to a professional that can help you through these challenging times:
  • Care + Crisis Helpline is available 24/7 at 585-283-5200 or text "Talk" to 741741;
  • New Yorkers can call the COVID-19 Emotional Support Hotline at 1-844-863-9314 for mental health counseling.
• Domestic Violence: For New Yorkers in need of help or assistance, they can text 844-997-2121 or can go to the new confidential online site to reach a professional. The new text program and confidential online service will make it easier for victims who are isolated with their abusers to get help. Both the text and online service are staffed 24/7 by the Office for the Prevention of Domestic Violence Staff who are experts in the area of domestic violence.

This morning a veteran who was treated at the VA Hospital in Batavia for COVID-19 was discharged today, recovered from the disease.

Video submitted by VA Western NY Healthcare System.

On Tuesday, Robin Grandin from Music to Remember WNY made a visit to the VA Hospital in Batavia along with her sister-in-law Jackie Volk to perform "Rockin' Robin" for patients at Spruce Lodge.

The performance was shared with a tablet computer so that proper social distancing could be maintained. 

Submitted by VA Western NY Healthcare System.